A Dish Best Served Cold
by Mistress Lynn
Summary: Summary: Somebody is out to get Hermione. Draco gets caught in the middle, and doesn't mind at all! AU, post HBP
1. Chapter 1: Monday

**Disclaimer: In its use of intellectual property and characters belonging to JK Rowling, Warner Bros, Bloomsbury Publishing, et cetera, this work is intended to be transformative commentary on the original. No profit is being made from this work.**

**Beta Readers**: Gryffindor_Slytherin, AuntLynnie, Lorcalon, BlueArtemis, Pagan

**Chapter Notes:**

This is my first fanfic. Light, smutty, and hopefully funny with a plot worked in there somewhere. Enjoy!

**Chapter 1**

"Yes!"

Satisfied, the reader slammed the _Moste Potente Potions _volume shut with a smile and levitated it back to its rightful place on the shelf. Shoved the copied parchments into their satchel, the student turned and purposely strode out of the library with none the wiser.

The plan was perfect. All that was needed now was an object from either Crabbe or Goyle, and Miss Swottiest Witch of Her Age would be the laughing stock of Hogwarts. Somebody needed to take her down a notch or two. And if everything went according to plan, it would be tomorrow!

oooooooooooo

oooooooooooooo

Hermione glanced at the clock. _Sigh!_

Still another twenty-five minutes to go. Usually she hated double Potions with the Slytherins. Tensions between the two houses had eased somewhat since Voldemort had been defeated, but there were still grudges, residual prejudices, and the occasional fight. So far, this class was uneventful. No snide comments came from Snape and no confrontations between the students either. However, she found that lack of confrontation made for a boring lesson.

Hermione was getting agitated. The weather was so nice outside and she was itching to go for a run. It was a long day and she had been cooped up in the castle without any free periods. She found out several months ago that exercising a few times a week really cut down her stress level. Not only that, but she was actually able to concentrate better on her work, making her more efficient. The time taken out for exercise actually saved her time in the long run. Time which she filled in with extra reading, of course. She was fully aware that she had obsessive compulsive tendencies with regards to her studies.

Hermione and her partner, Neville, were almost done. The potion was a not straightforward one, but she had already read up on today's assignment previously and knew what to do in order to avoid the common pitfalls most made when making the blood restorative potion. She looked over at Harry and Ron, who did not seem to be faring so well.

Neville was calmly alternating between stirring the dark blue, viscous liquid clockwise and counter-clockwise every two and a half minutes, as prescribed, while the cauldron simmered on low. In the meantime, she marked down which one he had done last so that they would know which direction to do next, and flipped the sandglass. They had arrived at the easy part and would collect a sample to give to Snape after three more stirs with the oak wood spoon.

Hermione scanned the room, and saw that Lavender and Parvati seemed to be almost done as well. She observed them with disinterest. Parvati was certainly the brains of those two. Dean and Seamus looked like they were in trouble. Some of the other Gryffindors were still on the earlier stages of the potion and would probably not finish all of the required stirring. According to the textbook, the blood restorative potion would not work to its full capacity without every last stir.

On the Slytherin side of the classroom, Malfoy was leaning back in his chair with his feet propped up on the table, giving Crabbe orders. She rolled her eyes.

_Typical_, she thought.

Crabbe spooned their dark blue liquid into a vial. They had already finished with a perfect potion, she hated to admit.

Hermione yawned. She needed to run and wake herself up. The minutes ticked by slowly. Neville finished the last stir and she spooned it into a vial.

"Good job, Neville. I think we'll get an Outstanding for today," she said.

He blushed, "Thanks, Hermione. It's all because of you."

She looked up at him. "If you didn't follow directions so well, it would all be for naught. I think we make a good team."

"Me too." He smiled down at her.

Hermione was comfortable working with Neville. It was a good pairing as far as the both of them were concerned. They split the work with her delegating which tasks to do, as she had a better understanding of how to make potions more efficiently, and with better results. He didn't mind being ordered around, and did as she asked. In the end, they both got good grades.

The end of the class was near.

"Time is up," Snape drawled. "Bring your samples to my desk and clean up your work stations."

Students scrambled around in a flurry, trying to quickly finish any remaining steps that they hadn't had time for while cleaning up at the same time. The ingredients spilled, students jostled one another, and after fifteen chaotic minutes, the class was empty as they filtered down the hallway to common rooms, the library, and outside as the school day came to a close.

"Crabbe!" sounded an annoyed voice. "My quill!"

Crabbe turned around. He had forgotten his quill today and borrowed one from Draco.

"Oh, um…" He opened his satchel and looked around inside, pawing through his books and parchments. He padded himself down with his hands. "Uh…" He opened his satchel again but to no avail.

Draco raised an eyebrow at him.

"Maybe, uh, I'll go back to the classroom…" Crabbe said, as he tried in vain to look into his bag again. "I had it just before everyone started to clean up!"

Draco sighed and turned to walk down the hall. "Never mind, I've got more."

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After changing into a tank top and shorts, Hermione began her lap around the grounds. She stayed away from the most obvious place to run, the Quidditch pitch, as she didn't want to be bothered by the teams practicing. Running there in the past resulted in snide remarks about her running and the revealing clothing that she normally wouldn't be caught dead wearing. Keeping to the perimeter of the grounds ensured that she wouldn't meet any students, although she did occasionally see Hagrid when she came around by his hut. He seemed to find her running amusing since she wasn't a Quidditch player. Apparently, exercising for health hadn't caught on in the wizarding world. Most likely because there were many potions available that ensured good health and shrunk fat, but they were costly.

Hermione's feet pounded on the grass; she smiled at the feel of the sun on her face and arms. Her bushy hair was tied back in a pony tail, tickling her shoulder blades. She had been running for about an hour now. When she first started jogging regularly, she could barely go for ten minutes. Now, after learning to control her breathing, she found that she could continue much longer, but didn't exceed an hour. Her knees would bother her if she did. Instead, she pushed herself to increase her pace. She could now do one and two-thirds of the perimeter in an hour. She was trying to work up to two laps.

It was a beautiful run. She passed by the Forbidden Forest, the Black Lake, and saw the highlands of Scotland in the distance. She especially liked running at this time of day, when the sun began to set.

Hermione looked down at her mechanical watch. An hour was up; unfortunately, she was still at one and two-thirds of the perimeter. She slowed down and walked the rest of the way back to her starting point near the Quidditch pitch where she kept her belongings in a bag. She breathed in deeply, measuring her breaths. Sweaty, bright red, and heart was pounding, she smiled, loving the feeling right after a run. It was just what she needed after a long day of classes. After doing a few pushups, situps and stretches, she slipped on a pair of loose fitting trousers over her shorts and a T-shirt over her sports bra, and headed back to the castle.

0000000000000000

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A pair of eyes from the Prefect's bathroom watched as Hermione entered the castle doors.

_Stuck up bitch._

As a precaution, the bathroom door was bolted shut, but nobody would be going in there any time soon. People were mostly at dinner. The Prefect's bathroom only started to get some use after seven o'clock in the evening. There was still time.

The heat had to be adjusted so that the white liquid would boil before adding Crabbe's quill. The potion had to be at just the right temperature and level of acidity so that the quill would completely dissolve. Overall, it was a simple potion and didn't take much time or skill to make. It would be done in about five minutes, with another ten minutes to cool down. Assuming that another five minutes was needed to clear all of the traces of having brewed the potion in the Prefect's bathroom, everything would be finished shortly.

The student was careful in adding the quill. Touching the potion was just as potent as ingesting it.

Next, it needed to be administered to Hermione. Fortunately, that part had already been figured out. It would just require a bit of sneakiness. The eyes turned to the mirror to see a wide smirk facing back.

ooooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooooo

Hermione ran up the stairs to the fourth floor two at a time, energized by her workout. She was taken by surprise as the stairs swiveled to the east hallway while she was halfway up.

_Sheesh! These stairs could give someone a heart attack,_she thought.

She grabbed the hand railing, waiting until the stairs had completed their moving, and walked up the rest of the way.

She preferred a nice bath after exercising, and upon making her way down the hallway, she knocked on the door to the Prefect's bathroom. Turning the handle, she frowned. It was locked. She called out, but nobody answered. Although it was against the rules, she knew that the Prefects brought their significant others here to snog. A locked door with no answer usually meant that was precisely what was happening.

She sniffed in indignation and turned to go. What was that? She could smell a strong lemony scent coming from the bathroom. She leaned closer to the door and sniffed again. Almost like lemon scented dish liquid. Did the tap have lemon-scented water? She didn't think so. She crinkled her nose.

_Oh well_, she thought. A quick shower would have to do. She went back downstairs and stopped at the Great Hall to pick up a sandwich before heading back up towards Gryffindor Tower. Ginny met her along the stairs, her bag looking unusually heavy, and they headed up together.

Hermione was about to question the contents of Ginny's bag when she made an exaggerated show of sniffing Hermione.

Ginny recoiled in disgust. "Boy, you sure reek after you run!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You should talk. Your Quidditch uniform could wipe out all the plant life within a five mile radius."

Ginny grinned. "We could have sent you to the Death Eater's hideout after one of your exercise sessions. They would have begged to have been sent to Azkaban just for a breath of fresh air."

Hermione snorted.

"Did you get up to two laps yet?"

"Not yet."

"I'll join you next time. I'm sick of running around the Quidditch pitch, unless Harry's in front of me. Nice arse he's got," Ginny said, as she licked her lips.

Hermione made an exaggerated retching noise. "Thanks, but I'd prefer that you spare me the details."

"And sometimes he takes his shirt off when he gets sweaty…. Now _his _smell I don't mind!"

"Did I ever tell you what Ron's nasty bits look like?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

Ginny made a face. "Okay, okay, point made!"

Hermione continued, as if in thought, "Do you think Fred and George look the same down there?"

"Gah! Stop!" Ginny pleaded.

"Now Percy… I bet he's got a nice, big…."

"Enough! Enough!" Ginny covered her face. "I won't talk about Harry that way in front of you anymore!" she whined.

Hermoine chuckled. "Hmm… actually, you running with me is a good idea. I'd have to work harder to keep up with you."

"Right then, I'll remember to bring a gas mask -ow!" Ginny cried out, as Hermione pinched her arm.

The girls entered the common room together and saw Harry and Ron wrestling on the couch. Ron made a sudden lunge at Lavender, who shrieked and bubbled with laughter.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Honestly, he could do so much better than her."

Ginny gave her a look. "She's not so bad you know." She stared at the three in thought. "Are you sure you're not jealous? _You_ were the one who didn't want _him_."

Hermione shook her head quickly. "Of course not, nothing like that."

Ginny turned to her. "Then what is it? She plays with her hair and you roll your eyes, she makes a joke and you get irritated, she laughs and you look like you've eaten one of Fred and George's puking pastels. I'm surprised you tolerate her breathing. It's not like you to be so openly intolerant of others."

Hermione faltered. "It's just… I guess I feel badly for not loving him in the same way that he loved me. I want him to have someone more deserving of him." They stared a bit more at the three.

Hermione contemplated Lavender. "I am being unreasonable, aren't I?"

Ginny nodded.

"But it's not as if she's nice to me," Hermione continued in a defensive voice.

Ginny gave an exasperated sigh. "And you are to her? Ease up a bit. Look at the big picture. They're both happy, and that should say something. Ron was really depressed for awhile," she said pointedly.

Hermione winced, that was a low blow. She still felt guilty about that.

Ginny turned to go up to the girls' dormitories and Hermione followed her, lost in thought. As they headed up Ginny gave Harry, Ron, and Lavender a quick wave.

"Oi! Hermione!" Harry called out. "We have to breathe in here!"

Ron and Lavender laughed.

She gave him a rude gesture which only made Ron and Lavender laugh harder, and turned back to Ginny, who could barely contain her mirth. Hermione shoved her into the wall.

"Oof!" she grunted.

Hermione gave a small smile and said, "I guess you're right. I'll try harder to be more accepting of her,"

"Good," Ginny said, rubbing her arm. "It would be nicer if our whole group could get along well."

"She really is a part of our group now, isn't she?" Hermione said with distaste.

"Yep."

"You're right," Hermione sighed, as she'd realized that she'd have to accept it.

Ginny gave her a solemn look and patted her on the shoulder. "I know."

Hermione whacked her hand away and smiled. "Oh, shut it."

She tried to take her hair tie out of her sweaty mess of curls, and winced as they pulled painfully on her scalp.

"Arrrrgh!" Hermione growled. "This is the worst part of my run. I _hate _this rats' nest. It's so painful having to drag a comb through it. Ugh!"

Ginny smiled devilishly at her like she had been waiting for just this opportunity. "Okay, I'm going to give you your birthday present a month early."

"Pardon?"

But Ginny ran back to the sixth year dorms, heavy bag in tow, and returned with a small box.

"Open it!"

Hermione looked down curiously at the box Ginny held before her, and stopped trying to rip the hair tie from her hair. Hermione excitedly ripped open the wrappings and brought out a vial filled with a whitish fluid. She turned the bottle around and read the label. It was a hair potion. Her face fell. She hated hair products. They took too much time to use. She wasn't any good with them and thought that taking the time to practice was beneath her.

"Now before you get all cranky, just hear me out. This is good stuff. It's expensive, but you don't need to use it that often. Take the entire bottle and apply it once every three months and poof! No more rats' nest. You'll have straight hair with slight waves. That's it. No work. See the directions?"

She pointed to the label on the bottle with the moving diagram. "After a normal shampoo, you put it on and let it sit for an hour."

Hermione opened her mouth to protest.

"Shhhh! You can even read when it's on. It's not a waste of time."

Hermione snapped her mouth shut, as Ginny continued, "Then you rinse it out."

Hermione looked the vial over, it looked relatively harmless. She glanced up at Ginny who was brimming with excitement and doing a dance that reminded Hermione of four-year-olds that had to pee.

"Okay, okay, we can do it now," she said reluctantly.

"Yes!" Ginny clapped her hands. "Go shower, then call me in so I can help."

**Chapter End Notes:**

Hi everyone.

This is my first fic, I hope you enjoy it. A big thanks to my betas for proofreading it. The story is finished and more chapters will be posted as they are corrected.

Any comments/suggestions/critiques are welcome.

More action to come as the revenge plot unfolds!

Don't turn that dial!


	2. Chapter 2: Tuesday morning

**Chapter 2 – Tuesday morning**

The next morning, Hermione gave her appearance one last glance in the mirror. She had mixed feelings about her new hairstyle. On the one hand, she felt completely different. On the other hand, she felt as if she had exposed more of herself since her features were no longer overshadowed by her uncontrollable mess of curls anymore. She decided that she liked it. Putting a tentative hand to her head, she ran her fingers through her hair. It was nice to be able to do so without them getting caught in a snag of curls, and her hair felt so… smooth!

After rinsing the potion out last night and drying her hair, Ginny had dragged her down to the common room. Everyone complimented her, but they had to say something positive. They were her friends; they wouldn't tell her if it looked ugly. Even Ron had something nice to say, and he would usually be the one to let something insensitive come out of his mouth at a time like this. Maybe Lavender really was good for him…

"It's different, but it suits you."

Hermione jumped and whirled around to see Lavender staring at her. She hadn't realized that she wasn't the only one in the girls' bathroom.

"Thanks," she said, as she studied Lavender. "You would be honest, wouldn't you? You wouldn't hold back if it really didn't." Hermione smiled, trying to joke and ease her guilt from the way she had been treating her this past year. "In fact, _you_ might even enjoy telling me so."

Lavender smiled in return. "Actually, I was trying to be nice, but I was also being honest."

Hermione wondered if Ginny had spoken to Lavender as well about them getting along. Things had been tense between the two of them for awhile now because of her past history with Ron. Hermione took the compliment as an olive branch and decided to extend one of her own.

"I appreciate that. Listen, I'm heading down to breakfast, want to come with me?"

"Sure, just hold on a minute." Lavender approached one of the mirrors above the sinks and began to primp her long, blond hair, muttering charms while her hair flattened and poofed out at various places that her wand touched.

"It really is a talent, isn't it?" Hermione mused, thinking that there were more valuable talents than hairstyling. But she told Ginny she'd make an effort.

Lavender grinned at her. "Thanks." She applied some lip gloss and held the tube out to Hermione. "It'll make your lips seem fuller… sexier." She raised an eyebrow suggestively.

"Ha." Hermione smirked, as she took the tube. "That's me—sexy."

She imitated Lavender in applying the gloss and smacked her lips together. Lavender giggled and Hermione smiled at her. Gross. The lip gloss was sticky and tasted like cherry. It was vile. She'd wipe it off when Lavender wasn't looking. For now, she kept the smile on her face, hoping to mask her distaste. She didn't want this newfound easing of hostilities between them to end.

"Shall we?" Hermione asked.

"We shall."

So, the two girls headed down out of Gryffindor Tower to the Great Hall.

As they entered, Hermione could see Harry already sitting at their house table. He glanced up suspiciously at the two girls as they entered, wary of another tense meal together. However, as they seemed relatively at ease with each other, Harry relaxed. Hermione sat across from Harry and Lavender diagonally across from him. Ginny bounced across the room, pecked Harry on the cheek, and sat next to him.

"Your hair looks amazing, Hermione," Ginny said with mock admiration in her voice. "Tell me, who suggested you straighten your hair?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You did."

"And how long did it take you to do your hair this morning?" She cocked her head, as if truly didn't know the answer to her question.

Hermione blew out a breath of air. Boy, did Ginny love to rub it in. "No time at all, I just brushed it."

"Fascinating." She turned to Harry. "Harry, don't you think that Hermione looks much better now that we can actually see her pretty face?" She turned back and smiled innocently at Hermione, batting her eyelashes and thoroughly enjoying herself.

"Uhh… sure," Harry answered warily, not sure he wanted to get in the middle.

"Oh, quit your gloating, Ginny. You were right, I was wrong. Are you happy?"

"Quite! So, tell me, using the potion, was it simple?"

"Yes," Hermione said quietly.

"Did it take a lot of time?"

"No," Hermione ground out.

"And… could this possibly be something that you would do on a regular basis?" Ginny added, gleefully.

"Aaaagh! Yes! Fine! You're impossible!"

Lavender and Harry sniggered while Hermione grumbled, reaching for a piece of toast. Really, she didn't know why she hung out with this lot anymore. Lavender perked up and waved to Padma, who was approaching their table with Anthony Goldstein, the other Ravenclaw Prefect, and Blaise Zabini, the Head Boy.

"Hi, Hermione," Padma greeted her, giving Lavender a small wave. "We all wanted to talk with you about the Ancient Runes project due next month."

"Yeah," Anthony said, "We're having trouble explaining why Gaussius interpreted the East Balkan scroll to mean that war would cleanse the mountain regions there."

Blaise continued, "If I didn't know better, I'd think that Gaussius was making a mistake. We're all stuck."

Hermione nodded excitedly. "I know what you mean. It's _Gaussius_!" She thought she heard Harry mutter something that sounded like "Nerds" to Ginny, and ignored them. "It just doesn't make sense however you look at it. Maybe we could meet Friday afternoon, I've got a free period then and we could continue on until the evening."

"Sounds good." Anthony clapped her on the back, a little bit too hard, and she pitched forward slightly. "See you in Arithmancy."

"Right," she waved as they walked back to their respective tables.

Hermione smiled to herself. She enjoyed the rare occasions that she collaborated with the students in the other houses on schoolwork.

"Good morning, love." Ron took Lavender's hand as he sat down across from her. "You look nice today."

"So you three have Quidditch practice this afternoon?" Lavender asked.

"Yes!" Ron squeaked.

Harry quirked an eyebrow at Ron. "You alright there, mate?"

Ron shifted in his seat uncomfortably as his ears flushed. "Just fine."

"Are you sure?" Lavender asked him with innocent concern. "You look a bit peaky."

Hermione ignored the exchange. She could see Lavender's leg extended under the table and could guess what she was doing. Lavender wasn't exactly being subtle next to her. Gross. She tried to eat her food while looking at the other direction and reached for the saltshaker to sprinkle her omelette. The house-elves never used enough salt. Not that they could be blamed for that. They had so many people to please!

"Just as long as you're okay for practice," Harry said, as he turned back to his food. After chewing and studying Ron's reddening complexion a bit, he added, "You do look a little red. Don't get sick, we need you for the game this weekend. Hey, Hermione, pass the salt, will you?"

Hermione handed the shaker to Harry but nothing came out when he sprinkled it on his eggs.

"Blimey, Hermione, would you like some eggs with your salt?" He looked around. "Is there another shaker on the table?

Hermione munched on her breakfast. "That's odd, there was plenty when I used it."

Harry spotted one. "_Accio_ saltshaker." Another saltshaker came whizzing down the table, knocking over Hermione's orange juice, and he caught it.

"Aak! Harry!" she quickly siphoned all the spilled juice away with her wand. He smiled sheepishly at her.

Ginny reached across Harry to put her hand on Ron's forehead. "You do seem a little hot."

Ron gave out a gasp and looked at Lavender, her face full of innocent concern. "I'm okay," he answered with a squeak.

The five talked about Quidditch and the impending double Potions class they had with the Slytherins during fifth and sixth period. Ginny taunted them as she knew how they all suffered in that class. Ron continued to look more and more uncomfortable as he shifted and slouched in his seat, giving out grunts in reply and vague monosyllabic answers. Hermione tried to keep her eyes on her food. Lavender smiled sweetly at Ron, appearing completely oblivious to the effect her foot was having on him.

Getting bored with studying what was left of her omelette and trying to look anywhere but Ron, whose sexual agitation was starting to make her uncomfortable, if not a bit sexually frustrated herself, Hermione's eyes floated over the various house tables and landed on the other side of the room. There, she saw the blond head of Draco Malfoy leaning back against the wall by the Slytherin table as if he owned the place.

Pansy Parkinson was carrying his robes and staring up at him with a simpering smile. His arms were crossed and his tie was loosened. She could see him conversing with the various Slytherins sitting near him down at the table. Unlacing his arms, he pushed himself off the wall and sat down where the other seventh years parted for him. Although he and his family had been Death Eaters, they had managed to turn sides right before the end of the war last summer, working with the Order to destroy the last of the Horcruxes and bring Voldemort down. Somehow, they had come out of the whole mess on top, like the last war.

Hermione shook her head, thinking about how his father had tried to kill them at the Department of Mysteries two years ago. If someone asked her, the Malfoys were given more credit than what was due, but no one asked her.

_Those Malfoys were nothing if not cunning, manipulative sons of…_ she thought as she studied Malfoy a bit more, _and very attractive. _

She furrowed her brows. He certainly was masculine. Gone was the gaunt and haunted look from last year when he was assigned to kill Dumbledore. Getting involved in Quidditch again had brought him a lean, muscular physique.

Hermione lost track of how long she had been staring at him when she suddenly realized that he was staring right back at her. A nervous tightening suddenly spread in her stomach as his grey eyes pierced hers. She had never really looked at Malfoy for an extended period of time - not if she could help it, and certainly not directly in his eyes like this. They had usually ignored each other, sparing the occasional barb or snide remark, involving Harry or Ron. She tended to stay out of their pissing contests and was pleasantly surprised to see that she was left alone in return.

She felt hot and her cheeks flushed involuntarily, but she couldn't look away. The tightness in her stomach started to spread lower and she rubbed her legs together to relieve the building tension. Her sexual frustration increased as she heard Ron's occasional grunts to Harry's comments and sighs in the background, causing her to imagine Malfoy making those noises.

The longer she looked into Malfoy's eyes, the more she felt like she was treading into unknown territory. She felt increasingly warm and nervous and… was she getting wet? His grey eyes bored into hers and she felt herself breathing heavily, as images flashed of him moaning and sighing in pleasure. She imagined that his eyes locking onto hers, forbidding her from looking away, as he slowly entered her from above. Her mouth went dry as her lips parted.

Oh. Her knickers were most definitely wet.

Malfoy slowly rested his arms on the table, and leaned forward. "Mudblood," he mouthed, and sneered, breaking the spell.

She rolled her eyes, faking nonchalance, flicked her hair and turned away as if nothing had happened. But she couldn't get rid of the desire within her.

"Don't you think, Hermione? Hermione, are you listening?" Harry asked.

"Pardon? I'm sorry, Harry. I got distracted."

"Don't you think that Ron should see Madam Pomfrey?" He turned back to Ron. "Just have her check you out quick. I don't want you missing practice and definitely not the game."

"Aaahhh, sure. Sure, Harry. I'll go."

"I'll take you down," Lavender offered.

_I'm sure you will,_ Hermione thought to herself.

_Ick._

She sneaked a peek at Malfoy's lean, muscular frame as he rose to leave. Letting out a long breath, whe watched him stretch his limbs as he donned his robes and straightened his tie before heading off to class.

When did he become so desirable?

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hermione passed through History of Magic and Care of Magical Creatures in a daze and was quite disturbed to find that she couldn't stop thinking about Malfoy or his grey eyes. Even less welcome were the images that kept playing through her mind of him sweaty, naked, and pressed against her body. She didn't understand what was wrong her. Sure, Malfoy was attractive, she could admit to that. Lots of blokes were attractive. So were Bill and Charlie Weasley, and she did fantasize about them every so often. But she didn't find herself thinking about them all the time. Not like this.

She never even obsessed over Ron like this when she had once hoped that the two of them might become an item. And she genuinely loved Ron. Malfoy, she couldn't stand. She looked down at her notebook and the incoherent phrases written there. She couldn't concentrate on her notes, and found that the tightness within her would not go away. If anything, it seemed to be getting worse and her fantasies more frequent.

Hermione walked back inside the castle from Care of Magical Creatures, lagging behind Harry, Ron and Lavender. Her next class was Arithmancy, which she had with Malfoy. She was so nervous that she felt as if she might puke her breakfast up. She wished she didn't have any classes with him. But still, she couldn't wait to get closer to him. Ugh, she was so pathetic.

As she approached the classroom, she peeked inside to see if he arrived. Not yet. She walked to the other side of the corridor pretending to organize her things as Malfoy sauntered around the corner with Blaise Zabini and entered the classroom.

Only seven students dared to take the NEWT level Arithmancy class; so most of the chairs were usually unoccupied. They were the same seven students that took NEWT level Ancient Runes. Three Ravenclaws, two Slytherins, one Hufflepuff, and one Gryffindor. Hermione waited until Malfoy sat down. Hoping to watch him unnoticed, she took a seat one row behind him and two chairs to his right.

She sighed. Her behavior was ridiculous. She thought herself above the frivolities of brainless teenagers. Maybe it was just hormones? She still _was_ a teenager, after all. Maybe she needed a good snog; it had been a while. Or maybe she was just more turned on by Ron getting off than she cared to admit? Did that make her a voyeur? But then, why the sudden attraction to Malfoy?

Professor Vector came in and with a quick greeting to her students, continued to describe the quantification of magic intensity from where she had left off in the previous lecture. The six students got out their quills and studiously began to take notes. Hermione intended on taking notes, she really did. But Malfoy had pushed up the sleeves of his robes, baring his forearms. She could see his muscles flexing and tendons moving under his pale skin. The movement made his faded Dark Mark ripple as he wrote. His long fingers gently held his quill as he gracefully filled line after line of parchment with notes and diagrams, periodically looking up at Professor Vector, and down again to his notes.

She began to imagine his fingers on her body and her temperature increased. Where there was tightness, there was now heat. She squirmed in her seat and pulled her eyes to the front of the room and to the diagrams, which were magically suspended in mid-air.

_Merlin! She hadn't written down a thing!_

Professor Vector never checked to see if her students were paying attention, she knew they were all highly motivated and at the top of their year - there was no need. At least there was no worry that Hermione would be caught daydreaming. How embarrassing that would be.

She furiously copied the diagrams before Professor Vector could take them down to make room for more, although she knew that her notes wouldn't be adequate enough to describe them. She would have to get today's notes from one of the Ravenclaws. That shouldn't be a problem. She lent out her notes to them whenever needed. And she could always catch up on today's lecture by reading over the chapter; it would just be a bit more difficult without the benefit of Vector's explanations.

Feeling a bit more relaxed, she turned back to studying Malfoy. His frame was slightly hunched forward as he copied down his notes, and she looked at the different angles of his body. He shifted his posture occasionally, which allowed her to see the changing contours of his limbs through his robes. He ran a hand through his chin length hair.

She licked her lips. Oh, did she ever want to do that.

She would run her hands through his hair and grip the base of his neck. She imagined sliding her hands underneath his robes and feeling his chest. The warmth in her lower body intensified and she found herself heating up and becoming even more aroused.

She closed her eyes. It was awful and at the same time, it was wonderful. She had never felt an attraction this intense before. All the same, she couldn't continue like this. She had to get out of here. Certainly, something unusual had happened to her; this wasn't normal behavior, even for sex-obsessed teenagers.

Her head snapped up. That was it! She must have been cursed! Why else would she suddenly be so taken with Malfoy that she couldn't concentrate on anything else?

She stared and contemplated him. Did he do it? He certainly wasn't acting any different than usual. If he had cursed her, wouldn't he be taunting her by now? No, it wasn't him.

Of course, turning back to look at him was a mistake. Her eyes were drawn to the side of his head and at his brow furrowed in concentration. She lowered her gaze to his defined jaw, which clenched and unclenched with the rhythm of his writing, and then to his plump lips.

She could kiss those lips. Oh, she wanted to kiss those lips. She bit her own at the thought, closed her eyes and let out a small groan. The room went silent and everyone turned around.

_Bollocks!_

She looked up at Professor Vector, purposefully avoiding Malfoy's eyes gazing at her with curiosity. She could actually feel him staring at her and she clenched her thighs.

"Are you alright, Miss Granger?" Professor Vector asked.

Not wanting to pass up such a perfect opportunity, she lied. "Actually no, my stomach has been bothering me all morning. Could I go see Madam Pomfrey?"

"Of course, and will someone please give Miss Granger their notes for this class afterwards?" The professor was already turning back to the blackboard to continue the lesson. "Feel better," she called over her shoulder.

Hermione quickly gathered her things and rushed out of the classroom without meeting anybody's eyes.

_Thank Merlin!_

She couldn't stand being that close to him another minute! No matter, she thought as she walked down to the hospital wing. She'd get the antidote to whatever it was that she had been cursed with from Madam Pomfrey and everything would go back to normal. Then she would find out who did it, and hex the living shit out of them!

ooooooooooooooooo

oooooooooooooooo

Hermione entered Madam Pomfrey's office in a rush. The much older witch looked up from her paperwork and suddenly, she felt tongue-tied, and ashamed.

"Yes, dear?"

"Madam Pomfrey, I.. uh…"

She stopped and looked shyly at the older medi-witch. How was she going to explain this? Madam Pomfrey was the only staff member as old as Dumbledore, possibly older. She must have lived during the Victorian era. How would she explain this to someone who grew up in a time when table legs were supposed to be covered to prevent men from having carnal thoughts of women's legs?

Madam Pomfrey gazed back patiently at her.

Hermione took a steadying breath. "Madam Pomfrey, I think I've been cursed."

Her eyebrows rose as she looked Hermione up and down. "Oh?"

"Just this morning, I found that I was having very… um… indecent thoughts about someone." She blushed, but hurriedly continued before she lost her nerve. "Someone that I don't like at all, really. And I can't concentrate on my work, I can't concentrate in class, I can't concentrate on anything. All I do is stare at this person when he's around and think about…." She stared at her feet. "Those things… with him… and when he's not around, it's the same. And I get very hot and flushed because all I can think about is…" She blushed again, hoping that Madam Pomfrey would understand and not judge her too harshly.

Madam Pomfrey nodded. "Well, Miss Granger, I don't think that you are cursed. You're a young woman, and while I do encourage abstinence, I'm not so naïve as to be oblivious to what hormone driven teenagers do at Hogwarts."

"But you don't understand, it's really getting in the way of my ability to study." Her eyes widened. "That's it! Someone cursed me to sabotage my place at the top of the class!"

Madam Pomfrey chuckled at her. "Miss Granger, it's perfectly normal. Why do you think we have dress codes here? How easy would it be for students to concentrate in class if everyone attended dressed in inappropriate attire?"

"But he's dressed appropriately!" she argued, although she constantly imagined him naked. "And you don't understand - he's… he's a complete and utter prat, with no redeemable qualities. I don't like him! And it just happened so…so... suddenly! Nothing happens that fast! It has to be a curse."

Madam Pomfrey gave her a knowing smile and Hermione's blood boiled. She didn't believe her!

"Of course, Miss Granger. And yet you are attracted to him. It seems you have a very active imagination; a quality that helps you excel in your studies, I'm sure. But now, your imagination is hindering your studies rather than helping it. If I might suggest to you something that is more common with boys to get them through the day? Some… relief?"

"Relief? What do you -oh!" Her face blanched as her anger quickly diffused into embarrassment. She stared at her feet. _Ugh!_ Was she really having this conversation with Madam Pomfrey of all people?

Madam Pomfrey continued. "Now, don't be embarrassed, dear. It's perfectly natural. In fact, if you know how to relieve yourself, you'll be better equipped to tell a future partner how to give you that same relief."

This was humiliating. She had to get out of here. She'd much prefer to have this conversation with her mum, or Ginny, if she was going to have it at all. But it did make sense, maybe she just needed to masturbate and relieve her tension. She'd never tried it before, but the idea was becoming more and more appealing.

"If you are unsure as to how to go about relieving yourself, I can conjure up some explanatory diagrams –"

"No, no! Please! That won't be necessary!" She would rather sing opera in front of the entirety of Hogwarts than be told how to masturbate by Madam Pomfrey.

"Yes, well, I know the subject can be embarrassing, but I ensure you it's completely healthy and will only enhance your future relationships. Some people enjoy watching their partners –"

"_Thank_ you, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione interrupted. This conversation had to end now. "You really have given me good advice, it's just a bit more that I wanted to hear, no offense."

Madam Pomfrey smiled. "None taken."

As Hermione turned to rush out of the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey called after her. "Oh, Miss Granger, one more thing." Madam Pomfrey whisked her wand and a series of pamphlets sailed through the air and landed into Hermione's hands.

Hermione skimmed over the titles: _Abstinence: is it the right choice for you?, Safe sex: A guide to contraceptive spells, Masturbation: a guide for witches._ All of the pamphlets were complete with explicit moving explanatory diagrams.

_Eeeeeek!_

Mouth agape, she looked up at Madam Pomfrey, her blush back in full force, and ran out of the infirmary.

Madam Pomfrey shook her head and tsked. "Teenagers these days are such prudes."

ooooooooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooooo

Hermione ran to her dorm room. Relief! Masturbation! Of course! That's what she would have to do. She wished that she would have thought of it herself without having to go through that embarrassing conversation with Madam Pomfrey. The memory made her shudder.

Well really, it was her fault for not considering the obvious. Being involved with Harry and Ron on all of their adventures must have made her extra paranoid. She raced up the stairs to the girls' dormitories of Gryffindor Tower, pushed open the door to the seventh years' bedroom, threw her bag and books to the side of her bed, collapsed on the mattress and drew the curtains around her.

Everyone would be at lunch now, but it was always best to take precautions. She cast a Silencing Charm around her bed and took off her robes. Glancing at the hand-outs, she decided she wouldn't be caught dead with Madam Pomfrey's informational pamphlets. She incinerated the one on abstinence (it's not like she was going to have sex with Malfoy anyway) and did the same with the pamphlet on masturbation. She was hot, wet, and pulsing down there. She'd have no problem finding the right spot. The last one regarding contraceptive spells, she placed in her drawer underneath a collection of various items so that it wouldn't be seen. They would come in handy one day, maybe just not during her time at Hogwarts. She couldn't imagine doing it with anyone except Malfoy and _that_ wasn't going to happen for obvious reasons.

Impatient to feel normal once again, Hermione laid back on her pillow, hitched up her skirt, shoved her hand down her knickers and closed her eyes, thinking of Malfoy's piercing greys.

ooooooooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooooooo

Blaise leaned over to speak to Draco at lunch. "Did you see Granger checking you out in Arithmancy today?"

Draco choked on his chicken. Blaise slapped him on his back several times. After regaining the ability to breathe, he turned to Blaise and cracked a smile. "You had me there."

"I'm not kidding. She was so busy looking at you that she didn't realize that I'd noticed. From the look of her, it wasn't magical quantification she was thinking about. She wasn't taking notes either."

"Ugh. Can we not talk about this? I'd like to finish eating. Horny Mudbloods aren't good for the appetite."

Blaise gave him a lecherous look. "She's not ugly. I wouldn't kick her out of my bed."

Draco rounded on his friend and lowered his voice. "Blaise, I said shut it."

"Okay, okay." He raised his hands and backed off.

Draco turned back to his meal and stabbed his chicken. When Blaise was otherwise engaged, he chanced a quick glance at the Gryffindor table. Granger wasn't there. He glanced back down to his food before Blaise could see him looking.

She had been staring at him this morning. He was surprised to see how she had changed after straightening her hair, how he could now clearly see her facial features. Locking eyes with her made him feel uncomfortable, and he ended it the best way he knew how.

ooooooooooooooooooooo

oooooooooooooooooooooo

Hermione saw the tall forms of Ron, Lavender, and Harry heading down to the dungeons and she ran to catch up with them. She poked Harry in the side and he yelped and whirled around.

"What happened to constant vigilance?" she teased.

"Hey, we saved you a sandwich and some crisps. Were you at the library again?"

Relieved for such an easy excuse presented to her, she nodded. "You know, NEWTs have me working hard."

There was no way she'd tell them what she had been doing during lunch period. During _all_ of lunch period. She had orgasmed five times to images of a naked Draco Malfoy playing through her head. He took her on top, from behind, from the side, and lastly, she rode him until they both were screaming. She was a sweaty mess before she rushed to take a quick shower and dry her hair.

She was so relieved that she had gotten rid of her increasing sexual tension and felt that she was fully able to concentrate in class now. Even with the double Potions with the Slytherins. And she'd definitely need to be concentrating in Potions. She'd just have to avoid looking at… him.

"It's the least we can do. You help us with our homework all the time. We need to keep our source of brainpower fed. " He put a strong arm around her tiny frame, squeezed her towards him and tussled her hair.

"Quit it!" She smiled up at him. "You two are both bright, you just don't apply yourselves, and have trouble paying attention in class."

"Do we ever," answered Ron. "I drooled over all my notes in History of Magic this morning. Which reminds me - I'm going to need yours, Hermione."

"Oh," she said, embarrassed. "My notes aren't so good today, otherwise I would give them to you. I wasn't paying attention myself actually. Fine time to give you two a lecture, huh."

They laughed.

"You can take my notes," Lavender offered. "They're well organized."

"Thanks, love." Ron nuzzled her ear.

Hermione held back a snort, not wanting to insult her. She wouldn't be getting her notes from Lavender—that was for sure. They approached the door to the Potions classroom and she stopped, closed her eyes and counted to ten. She just had to avoid looking at him.

They went to their usual tables, Harry and Ron together, Lavender and Parvati, Hermione and Neville. She kept her eyes focused downward, forcefully avoiding Malfoy's direction where he was paired with Crabbe. She'd look at her table all class. My, there were a lot of ridges and scratches in the wood. Maybe she could count them. One, two, three…

Snape entered with a flourish of his robes and began describing the potion that they would be making. "The instructions are on page 158 of your textbooks. Failure to produce satisfactory results will result in a three foot essay on the effects of poorly made Mandrake draughts."

When no one made a move, he added in a voice filled with irritation, "If you want to finish on time I suggest you start _today_. I have some papers to go over and do not wish to be disturbed. Seventh years at Hogwarts should have enough self reliance to make a decent draught. _By. Themselves._"

He entered his office and shut the door. He must have been angry about the lack of success yesterday.

Chairs squeaked and papers rustled as the room became a flurry of activity.

Hermione handed Neville the list that she had prepared last night. "I'll get the dry ingredients, Neville, you get the wet."

"Sure thing." And they both headed off to collect their respective ingredients.

Hermione headed over to the cupboard with her tray to collect the items that she needed. Looking briefly at her list, she began to fill the various bowls. She was almost done when she felt a warm body close to her backside. A musky, male scent filled her nostrils as she inhaled, and she shivered. Hermione didn't even have to turn around; she knew it was him.

She closed her eyes and counted to three.

_Just get your things and get out of here, don't look at him,_ she told herself.

She hurriedly scanned the shelves for Rockwurst root, conscious of the now familiar tightening in her lower belly and put a large piece into a glass receptacle. She could see his arms reaching out to grab ingredients from the corner of her eye and willed herself to look away, turn around, and make it back to her seat. But the damage was done. It was as if she hadn't masturbated at all and she was right back to where she was in Arithmancy.

She placed her tray on the table next to Neville's and they began to prepare the first ingredients. She looked over and saw Malfoy's arms with his sleeves rolled up, chopping the root with Crabbe, muscles flexing. He had such sexy arms. She thought of how they could stroke her, grope her, pinch her… spank her.

_Where did that come from?_

"Okay, Neville, first we have to –" Merlin, she felt hot. She rubbed her forehead. She was sweating! "– uh, dice the Rockwurst root. Here, I've got the knife. You get the rose water boiling."

She tried chopping but kept looking across the room at Malfoy, and ended up cutting her middle finger. "Ouch!" She put her finger in her mouth and sucked on it.

"Oh, be careful, Hermione, I'll do it." Neville took the knife from her and continued chopping the root. "Um, maybe you can adjust the temperature of the cauldron."

But Hermione wasn't listening. Her eyes were back on Malfoy.

He glanced up at her and she stared into his grey eyes, sucking the blood off of her finger. Her lower belly constricted and she felt her knickers get wet again. She couldn't help it. She imagined licking him and her tongue moved over her finger distractedly. What would he taste like? Malfoy stared at Hermione while her tongue moved up the sides of her finger.

Draco's lips parted and he felt his cock twitch.

_No. Fucking. Way._

Girls flirted with him all the time. His reputation as a reformed Death Eater had its perks. It was just strangely exciting coming from Hermione. But this... it couldn't be real. She was playing with him, and that came as a surprise since they had pretty much ignored each other. The Golden Trio must be bored now that Voldemort was dead, and were looking to get their kicks by messing with his head. Well, he wasn't falling for this shit.

Longbottom jostled her and she looked back, embarrassed, as if she didn't realize what she was doing. Draco continued to add ingredients as Crabbe stirred, but kept an eye on her.

"Did you see that?" Blaise asked him.

"See what?" answered Draco, although he knew exactly what Blaise was referring to.

"Granger. Sucking on her finger like she'd like nothing better than to give you head."

Draco ground his teeth, trying to will his erection away. "Yes, I did."

"And?"

"She's too obvious. It's a prank."

Blaise looked put out. "Yeah, you're probably right. But she's making me hard and I'm not even the one she's looking at."

"So if you want her so badly why don't you do something about it," Draco asked, irritated. There was a long pause as they both studied Granger. She looked up at Draco again and flushed perceptibly.

"I think I will," Blaise countered. "But it looks like it's you she's all hot and bothered over."

"Just spare me the details so I don't vomit," Draco said, trying not to look at her.

What did she think she was doing? Sucking her finger like it was his cock and then blushing. Playing the seductress or the embarrassed virgin? Whatever game she was playing, she was surprisingly good at it. He adjusted his trousers to make room for his erection that wouldn't go away.

Neville looked down at her, worried. "Hermione, are you alright? You look like you have a fever, and no offense, but you're not concentrating on our work."

She wiped her brow again. She was so hot! Her knickers were wet, her nipples were hard, she was horny as hell, and she felt so frustrated. Would Snape excuse her so that she could go relieve herself in the bathroom? No, he wouldn't be as kind as Professor Vector.

"It is hot in here, isn't it? I'm sorry, Neville, I think I'm okay; I'm just not myself. How about we switch and you tell me what to do instead? I don't want to mess up our potion."

"I can try. But I don't think it will be as good."

"That's okay…" she groaned as she rubbed her thighs together.

Neville eyed her warily and then bent over the text, deep in thought.

She glanced at Malfoy again. Both he and Zabini were staring at her. Merlin, those eyes of his. All she could think about was him on top of her, thrusting into her, dominating her. She was hot and itchy everywhere. Her head was swimming. She had to take off her robe. Dress codes be damned, she would pass out if she didn't.

Hermione quickly unfastened the front and put her robe over the back of her chair. She ran her hands through her sleek, shiny hair, extremely happy that it was no longer a frizzy mess. It was a little damp from sweat. She pinched a bit of fabric from her blouse and pulled it in and out quickly, creating a small fan of air on her neck and face, and wiped her neck with her sleeve. The tension and heat between her thighs was unbearable. She squirmed, and unable to help herself, rubbed her legs together again.

This was humiliating. She knew that Zabini and Malfoy were discussing her antics. They kept whispering and looking at her. She met Malfoy's eyes once more and gave a small moan.

His mouth was closed tight as he watched her intently. He didn't break eye contact with her like he had done previously at the Great Hall. He knew what would happen, though. He'd follow her out and attempt to follow up on her flirtations, and she'd leave him hanging so that they would laugh at him. What else could explain her behavior? Surely she wasn't really…

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's in need of a major wank. Snape is going to give her shit as soon as he notices that her robe is off," Blaise commented. "If it's a joke on you, it's an awfully risky one. She's going to get in trouble as soon as he comes back."

Draco said nothing and continued to watch her. He tried to inconspicuously rub himself on the edge of the table to relieve some of the tension he was feeling.

"Look at her. There's no way you can fake that," Blaise pondered about Granger some more, and then he grinned maliciously.

"What?"

"I don't think it's a joke. Someone must have spiked her Pumpkin Juice, or something. She wouldn't be pulling a joke in a classroom where she'd risk getting detention and house points docked. Especially with Snape."

"Hmm, that does make sense," Draco commented absently, as he watched her squirm and wipe her throat and chest area. He wouldn't mind wiping her there. "Actually, that makes a lot of sense…"

Draco smirked devilishly at her. This was going to be fun.

He was smiling at her! Oh gods! He was sexy! She shut her eyes and gripped the edge of the table. Lowering herself into a crouching position, she tried to breathe slowly. She inhaled and exhaled. Slowly… deeply… In and out, in and out, she thought to herself, but thoughts of Malfoy going in and out came to her… argh!

She was definitely cursed; this was _not_ due to teenage hormones.

Neville looked worriedly over the table and down at her. "Hermione, I think you should go see Madam Pomfrey. You really do look sick."

Harry overheard. "Hermione's sick? Let me see you." His strong arms easily lifted up her petite frame and he felt her forehead. "You've definitely got a fever, and you're all red. You know what," he looked over to Ron, "You look like you have what Ron had this morning."

Ron's head whipped around as his eyes met Hermione's. His jaw dropped and she flushed even more as comprehension dawned in his face.

"What?" Harry asked, not used to being out of the loop. Neville stared at them.

"Uh, I wasn't exactly sick this morning, Harry. Lavender was… um…"

"Don't describe it, Ronald, I saw Lavender's little footsie game." She glanced over at Malfoy again and saw that his mouth spread into a predatory grin. She gasped as another wave of arousal passed through her, and shut her eyes.

"And I think Harry gets it now." Harry's eyebrows went up as his figurative light bulb went on. He released her arms abruptly.

"So you're not sick?" Harry asked. "You're…"

"I think someone's cursed me."

Ron looked at her with wide eyes and said a bit too loudly for discretion. "You think someone's cursed you so you'd be… randy?" A few heads snapped up, curious.

Harry and Ron turned to each other and started to laugh hysterically.

Hermione picked up her Potions book and smack the backs of her two friends as they were doubled over, clutching their stomachs.

"It's… not… funny!" she breathlessly exclaimed between smacks of her textbook. This only made them laugh harder. Everyone was sniggering.

Snape overheard the commotion and came back from his office. He stared at the three icily. "Fifty points from Gryffindor for disrupting the class and disrupting _me_. Miss Granger, don your robes, this is a _classroom_. Ten more points for not adhering to school dress codes. If I have to come out of my office because of you three again, I'm taking another fifty and you'll all land in detention."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione, for their part, looked a great deal ashamed and went back to work immediately. Snape returned to his office, but the rest of the class was full of hushed whispers and suppressed laughs.

"I'm sorry. Neville. It just started this morning. I really am cursed, I just don't know what it is, or who did it. But that's why I can't concentrate," she pleaded. "You know me, I'm never like this."

Neville looked uncomfortable. "Uh, sure, Hermione." Neville looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't. He shifted his feet. "Is it a general…" He chose Ron's word, "randiness? Or, uh, is it directed towards one person?"

"It's just one person," Hermione said, as Neville froze like a deer in headlights. "Don't worry, Neville, it's not you."

He let out a slow breath and looked much more relaxed.

"I'm skipping Ancient Runes after this because I just can't take it anymore. That, and well, he's there too. I'll have to go to the library to figure out what it is." Hmm, she thought, a potion? Charm? Something more complex?

"You just sit and try to relax; I'll finish the potion, okay? You always help me when I need it." He conjured a cup. "_Aguamenti._" The cup filled with water and he handed it to her.

Hermione smiled at him. "Thanks, Neville." She gulped the water and set the cup down on the table.

She looked back at Malfoy again, and was shocked to see that he had been watching her the whole time. He gave her a seductive half smirk, full of naughty promise. She felt her chest heave with her panting.

His eyes pointedly moved southward to her breasts moving up and down, and she looked. Not wearing her robes anymore, her damp blouse was sticking to her body and mildly translucent. Her nipples hardened under his scrutiny, and her breasts just ached to be touched. She rubbed her forearms over her nipples in order to ease their sensitivity, and tried to disguise the motion to that of rubbing her neck.

She looked back up at Malfoy. He grinned wickedly and leered at her damp chest again. Her lips parted, as she tried to hold in a moan that threatened to escape. He knew exactly what she was doing. Her arousal intensified. Was he just playing with her? Maybe he _would_ have sex with her? Touch her at least? At this point, she was so desperate she thought that she might even be willing to have sex with him. She rubbed her legs together at that thought. Gods! Her core was throbbing. Her body was tingling. She was hot and she needed him. She pressed her hands between her thighs; she couldn't take it anymore.

Draco stared at Granger unbelievingly.

_Holy shit, this was fun!_

He didn't notice that Pansy was eyeing the interactions between the two of them, looking both shocked and hurt.

Someone had definitely messed with her libido. Whoever it was, he owed them big. Watching the petite Gryffindor getting hot over him not only stroked his ego, but gave him a feeling of power over her, which only added to his arousal. He'd have to corner her later before the effects of whatever had happened to her wore off. There was no way he was passing this opportunity up. He watched her press her hands to her nether region. She looked up at him again, gasping. He stared into her eyes and slowly ran his tongue over his teeth with a smile.

Immediately, her demeanor changed and she eyed him like a predator would her prey. With a growl, she lithely jumped over her table scattering a few ingredients on the floor, stalked over to his table, muscled a gawking Crabbe out of the way with surprising strength, and pushed him down into his chair as she stared at him. The entire class stopped what they were doing for the second time that day. Jaws dropped.

Wasting no time, she straddled him and his eyes widened. He was surprised that this was happening now, but she was not unwelcome. How strong was this potion she had been given? What was she going to do next? He let out a groan as he felt the hot wetness between her skirt rub over his erection, and she moaned as she began to grind herself on him.

He looked at her lust filled hazel eyes. Was she really going to do this here? He put his hands behind his head and leaned back smugly, looking completely in control.

Hermione's eyes flashed in anger. She would have none of that; she needed him to touch her… NOW. She grabbed his tie and yanked his head forward. His eyes widened in shock.

"Touch me!" she commanded.

Everyone in the classroom was still too stunned to react, including Draco. Numbly, he placed his hands on her waist. She smacked him hard. His head fell to the side. He looked up at her open mouthed, taken aback, and completely aroused.

"Not there, you little shit! Here!"

She placed his hands on her breasts and started rocking herself back and forth on his erection. He stared in wonder as he massaged her small breasts over her damp blouse. She sighed and moaned. He still couldn't believe this was happening.

She pulled him up by his tie and invaded his mouth with her tongue. Desire and warmth flooded through Draco. The classroom melted away and he reveled in the feel Hermione Granger in his mouth, pressed against him, kissing him and writhing on him. She was fantastic.

He tried to regain control but she wouldn't let him. Her legs pinned him down as she wrapped her feet around his shins and to the chair. She continued to grind her core onto his erection, and he moaned. One hand of hers still held him by his tie, the other fisted his hair and roughly massaged his scalp. She had an iron grip on him, and he couldn't move from his seat. Warmth pulsed through him, as his tongue met hers and his head clouded with the sensation.

She broke off the kiss, and they both gasped for breath and opened their eyes. Was this really happening? He was still in shock from having an extremely horny Hermione Granger getting herself off on him in the middle of Potions. He caught Potter's eye, who was just as much in shock as he was, and felt a rush of adrenaline. How much could he get away with before Snape came back in? He smiled darkly at Potter and massaged her breasts.

Hermione moaned and continued to rub herself on him. Oh, did that friction feel good. He grunted and tried to pull his head back, but her grip on his tie and hair was too tight. Her legs were wrapped around his and he couldn't really move from his chair. Damn, but she was strong! How did someone so small have him pinned?

Ron finally suddenly came to his senses. "Hermione, get off him! You don't know what you're doing!" he yelled, jolting Harry out of his shock.

They rushed over to Malfoy's table, shouting at her to get off of him when she suddenly grabbed Crabbe's wand and snarled.

"_Incarcerous! _" Ropes came out to bind the two of them together in the middle of the room. They struggled and fell to the ground, but couldn't get free.

"Neville!" Harry shouted, "Help her! She doesn't know what she's doing!"

All the yelling had brought a livid Snape out of his office. But Hermione was prepared.

"_Stupefy! _"

Snape fell to the ground just as he appeared in the doorway and the class gasped. Neville didn't move, and neither did anyone else. Draco looked at Hermione in fear. Whatever had been done to her, it was pretty strong. She was definitely not herself, and he felt a pang of fear as she looked down at him with lust-filled eyes.

"Keep touching me!" she growled at him.

He obeyed.

She cast a Shield Charm around them, which prevented anyone from getting close. Not that anyone had tried after watching her attack Harry, Ron, and Snape.

"_Accio_ wands!" Everyone's wands came flying to her hands and she hurled them to the ceiling, where they remained stuck.

"Somebody, go get help!" Harry yelled.

Hermione's eyes flashed. The door slammed shut and locked and gags appeared around Harry and Ron's mouths. They gave muffled shouts.

She turned around to see Malfoy's surprise at her display of power; she gave him a wicked smile, leaning down to lick around his earlobe and down his neck. He shuddered at the contact, and felt a pulse from the trail of her tongue down to where she was rubbing herself on his groin. He gasped.

"You just worry about pleasing me," she whispered hotly into his ear. It really was happening! Merlin, he wanted her.

The absurdity of the situation was turning Draco on immensely. It was a fantasy come to life - he didn't actually expect to be fucking, or in this case, getting off against some girl in front of a full classroom of onlookers. Or to be doing it with Granger while Potty and the Weasel watched. They were lying on the ground, unsuccessfully trying to break their bonds and shout some sense into her through the gags. All the while giving Draco murderous glares.

He smirked at them, then slowly unbuttoned her blouse while they watched, pulled down the cup of her bra, and inserted her hardened nipple into his mouth. His eyes were on Harry and Ron the whole time.

The whole class was watching. It was like a train wreck. They couldn't look away, and they were too scared to do anything. Unable to deny the nature of the situation, many of the students themselves started to become aroused. Some tried to avert their eyes unsuccessfully, some didn't even try to hide the fact that they wanted to watch.

Blaise unabashedly stuck his hand down his pants to stroke himself. Nobody would notice with this show going on.

Pansy watched the scene, furious.

Draco sucked on Hermione's nipple, his tongue swirling around it.

"Yessss," she hissed. "More! Unnngh!" She rubbed back and forth, and they both moaned with each motion. He started tweaking her left nipple while his mouth continued to work on her right one. She sighed, "More, give me more!"

She removed her hand from his hair and inserted it into the opening of his robes, and then his shirt, trying to feel the muscles of his chest. Moving downward, his left hand cupped her arse, prodding and pinching, with his eyes on Potty and Weasel. She yelped with each pinch.

"More!" she commanded him.

He smiled at them again. They'd come after him later for this, so he'd better make the most of it. In any case, he didn't care. No amount of them kicking his arse would strike this from their memories.

She slapped his face again, and her nipple popped out of his mouth as his face whipped to the side. Sweet Merlin! If that didn't turn him on.

Her eyes flashed at him. "Look at me, dammit! You do a lousy job when you don't pay attention!"

Angry at the jab at his skills, he smacked her arse and bit her breast lightly.

"Aaah!" she gasped. "Again!"

He sucked, licked, bit, pinched, massaged, and spanked everywhere he could. She kept on moaning, crying out with each smack and pinch, continuously rubbing against him. He panted from the heat and friction.

He repeatedly tried to move his hips but she wouldn't let him. Her moans got louder and her breathing quicker. She leaned down to kiss him again and he groaned as her tongue slithered against his. Her mouth was heaven and made him forget the situation he was in. He could feel that he was close to coming himself as his breath hitched.

She smacked his face to the side again. "Don't even think about it. You don't come until I do!" He reached down between her legs to stroke her under her soaking knickers.

"Yessss… yesss…!" She was coming apart. "Unnnnnghhh!"

Draco looked up at Granger in fascination, her hand still gripping his tie. She threw her head back, her back arched, and her breasts pushed out towards his face. She bucked and her body shuddered on top of him, as he continued to stroke her clit and watch her come apart.

He groaned and strained under her grip on his tie and around his legs. Watching her in the throes of her orgasm brought him over the edge. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he came with a yell. His hips bucked, and she bounced up, as her strength waned. They held onto each other with fingers that dug in so far that they bruised the skin. After the last shudder passed through them, Draco gazed up at her, wide eyed, enthralled, and completely unbelieving that this had just happened. Hermione hung her head, unable to look him in the eye.

Everything was quiet. Nobody in the class said anything. And then they heard quiet sobbing.

Hermione loosened her grip on Draco's tie. He stretched his neck and stared at her, as her crying increased in volume. She pounded his chest with her fist.

"What did you _do_ to me!" she yelled at him.

He winced. She knew it wasn't Malfoy. He seemed to have only figured out that she was this attracted to him in Potions. But she didn't care, she was too upset. The realization of what she had done was coming to her full force. She had to scream at someone.

"Granger," he began huskily, "I didn't-."

She pushed herself off of him and ran crying from the room after unlocking the door, unable to look at anyone. The Shield Charm dissolved, as did the ropes and gags binding Harry and Ron, and everyone's wands came clanking to the floor. Neville's hit him on the head.

"Ow!" He rubbed his skull.

Parvati said, "I'll go find a teacher, I don't know about any of you, but I don't want to be the one to wake up Snape." There was a murmur of agreement from the class.

"I'll go after Hermione," offered Lavender, and she collected hers and Hermione's things and left.

Ron and Harry got up off the ground and glared at Malfoy, who was already getting pats on the back and comments of admiration from his fellow Slytherins. They could also hear lewd remarks about Hermione. The rest of the students were tense and uncomfortably aroused, not knowing what to do or say.

Blaise looked oddly content.

Ron was boiling with anger. His vision was clouding with red and he felt a humming in his ears. How _dare_ Malfoy violate Hermione in this way? He made to lunge towards Malfoy, but he felt a hand on his arm. Harry shook his head. Ron's eyes bulged. He had to beat Malfoy's arse _now_.

"Wait," Harry whispered to Ron.

Beating up Malfoy wouldn't mitigate the embarrassment that Hermione would feel, but he knew just how to turn this thing around in her favor. They could beat up Malfoy anytime. He smiled darkly at the thought.

"Wow, Malfoy, she made you her bitch," Harry quipped. "Is she going to take you up the arse with a strap-on next time?"

And just like that, the tension in the classroom diffused. Everyone burst out laughing, even the Slytherins. Malfoy's face darkened and he rounded on Harry looking every bit as ready to kill as Ron. His moment of glory had turned into humiliation. Malfoy and Ron stepped forward, wands ready, both only too happy to start hexing and pounding into one another when Professor Flitwick came in with Parvati.

"_Expelliarmus!_"

Both wands flew out of the dueling wizards' hands.

They looked at Professor Flitwick, anger still dominating their features.

"_Ennervate._"

Snape stood up groggily and shook his head, remembering, "What…What happened?" His expression darkened and his voice lowered. "And _where_ is Miss Granger?" he asked, surveying the room. Only the faintest signs of his rage could be seen.

Everyone began shouting at once.

"It's not her fault! –"

"Someone cursed her! – "

"Malfoy did it! - "

"- didn't know what she was doing!"

"I didn't curse her, Weasel!"

"_Silencio_!" Snape roared.

Blessed silence.

He rubbed his temples. Much better.

He contemplated his students amusedly, as they shouted and waved their hands without a sound. They looked like fish out of water.

"Professor Flitwick? What has happened in my classroom and _what in Merlin's name_ possessed Miss Granger to throw a Stunner at me?"

They went to a corner to converse. Everyone leaned in to listen to the hushed conversation. Professor Flitwick explained what he knew from Parvati's worried descriptions.

"So you see, Severus. It seems that someone has indeed cursed Miss Granger. I don't think it's a charm, there is none that I know of that would affect a person so. According to what Miss Patil has told me, she has been afflicted since this morning. We might be dealing with a potion, and therefore, your area of expertise."

"Yes," Snape rubbed his jaw. His eyebrow twitched, the only sign that he was still incredibly angry. "It sounds like _Lustfarae_, from what you've described. A simple antidote, but it needs to sit for twenty-four hours before taken. If she doesn't take the antidote, the effects will stay in Miss Granger for roughly two months, depending on how much she's ingested."

Snape thought a bit, searching his vast knowledge. "The antidote, while easy to prepare, is not readily available due to the loss of properties within three hours of making it. I'll get started right away so that we won't have a repeat… incident."

Snape shuddered. The last thing he needed to see was more students getting each other off like dogs in heat.

"And what can we do with Miss Granger in the meantime? From what I've read of _Lustfarae_, she could be quite dangerous to others if-" Professor Flitwick asked, not wanting to continue the sentence.

Snape interrupted, not wanting to hear the rest of the sentence.

"Have someone explain to Poppy what has happened. She needs to test Miss Granger for traces of _Lustfarae_, just to be certain, although I'm positive that's what was given to her. Like the antidote, it's an easy potion to make. If it is indeed _Lustfarae_, I'd recommend that Miss Granger stay away from Mr. Malfoy at all costs," he said as he eyed Draco, who was straining to hear, like everyone else. "But at the same time, he should be available to her if she needs him, to prevent further—" His eyes narrowed at the memory of being stunned in his own classroom. "—injury to others."

Professor Flitwick nodded and quickly exited the classroom.

Snape suddenly rounded on his classroom in a swish of robes, catching his classroom by surprise. They had all been intent on listening in on the conversation. He gave a sinister smile.

"In addition to the assignment of failing to produce a satisfactory Mandrake draught, you are all assigned an additional two feet on the ingredients, and how the properties of each specific item affect the outcome of the potion as a whole, due next Monday."

There was a flurry of movement as his class waved their arms and mouthed protests at his unfairness while still unable to make a sound.

Snape gave his class a small smile. "Class dismissed."

"Oh," he said as if just remembering. "_Finite Incantatum_."

The silently moving mouths suddenly returned to full volume as students complained about the homework and eagerly discussed the events of their Potions class.

Just as the last of the students exited the classroom, Snape called out. "Mr. Malfoy, you may stay."

Draco froze - it was too much to hope for that he'd be getting out of this scot-free.

"You're dead, Malfoy!" Weasley's voice rang from the hallway.

Great. A reminder of what else was coming to him. As if the blow that his reputation just took wasn't bad enough. He seethed in anger.

Snape eyed Draco carefully as he approached his desk. His eyes narrowed as he studied him. Draco glared back.

"Did you do anything to Miss Granger to alter her behavior?"

"Of course not," he said, cockily. "If I wanted her, I'd have her."

Snape's eyebrows rose.

"What? It's true."

Snape studied Draco some more. "Have you ever heard of the _Lustfarae_ potion?"

Draco looked at Snape and thought a moment before answering. "Of course. You might as well ask me if I've ever heard of a blow job."

Snape cringed. Draco smiled, happy to have made him uncomfortable.

"Well?" pried Snape.

Draco sighed. "It makes the affected uncontrollably randy and releases them of any inhibitions as they try to sate their lust with their target. Is that what she's been given?"

"It appears so. She will be under the influence of _Lustfarae_ for the next twenty-four hours and you, unfortunately, are the target of her lust."

Snape placed his hands on his desk and leaned forward towards Draco.

"How do you feel about further _relations_ with Miss Granger, if she would so need it to prevent further injury to others? It is very difficult to contain someone who has been given _Lustfarae_, and denied themselves release for so long, as I am sure that she had done today. Their physical and magical strength becomes intensified to sate their desire, as we all have witnessed, and they can become extremely dangerous, as their sense of morality is compromised."

"I guess, if it would prevent further injury to others… I could lower myself." Draco smirked at Snape.

Snape rolled his eyes.

Draco turned to go - this was going to be fun.

"Oh, and Mr. Malfoy?" As if reading his thoughts, Snape added, "You are not to go near Miss Granger. She can't hear, see, or smell you for the next twenty-four hours, unless someone tells you that she needs you. Is that clear?"

Draco scoffed, "As if I'd want to be with her anymore than I'd have to." And left the classroom.

_Bull_, Snape thought.

He shuffled his parchments in disgust. He hated teenagers.

**Chapter End Notes:**

In the next chapter, Hermione tries to figure out who it is, and Draco wants more action!


	3. Chapter 3: Tuesday evening

**Chapter 3 – Tuesday evening**

Draco walked down the corridor after leaving the Potions class. While rubbing his slightly bruised face, he heard whispered voices, and paused. The voices were coming from around the corner. He approached quietly and listened, scowling. Scarface and Weaselbee. They were discussing Granger's condition and intending to jump him as he left.

There wasn't another way out of the dungeons. He had two options. The first was taking them both on. He was good at dueling – the war had proven that – but he didn't know if he was _that_ good. One of them possibly, but two was more difficult. The other option was skiving off Ancient Runes and heading back the other way to the Slytherin common room. It was nearly the end of the day anyway.

Anger returned and made his face hot. The blow that his ego had suffered after Potty called him Granger's bitch made him choose the former option. He'd have to deal with them sooner or later. Better to do it now.

Draco had the element of surprise since neither one of them seemed to have heard him approaching. He could probably take one of them out while he dueled the other. Quietly, he cast a Disillusionment Spell onto himself and a Silencing Charm on his feet. He wouldn't be completely invisible, but if they weren't paying attention, they wouldn't notice his blurry figure approaching until it was too late. He kept to the far wall facing the corner so that they would come into his line of attack.

Simple was usually the best way to go. No time for fancy hexes, no matter how tempting. If it came to physical beatings, he didn't know how he'd fare. They were all relatively tall and muscular from Quidditch. Of course, it would be incredibly satisfying to pound into them after today's hit to his reputation. He was itching for a fight.

Weaselboy came into his line of sight first.

_"Stupefy!"_

Ron fell as Harry sprang into action.

_ "Expelliarmus!"_

_ "Expelliarmus!"_

The wands were knocked out of Draco's and Harry's hands at the same time. They looked down at their fallen wands and then back at each other. Harry's eye twitched. Draco bared his teeth. Neither made a move to retrieve the wands. Their fists clenched and unclenched as they glared menacingly across the corridor at each other. Both had so much pent up anger and frustration that all they wanted to do was punish one another.

At the same time, they growled and lunged, collided and fell to the ground. Fists flew and kicks landed, headlocks and elbows; they wrestled each other to the ground.

_Crack!_Draco's nose broke.

_Crunch!_Harry's rib split.

The two grunted and proceeded to pummel each other as best they could until the punches got weaker, less frequent, and the kicks came less forcefully. Pain and exhaustion took over, as they backed up to their respective walls and eyed each other warily.

Draco slid down onto the floor against the wall, arms resting on his bent knees, blood streaming down his face. Harry sat down against the other wall with his legs splayed, the wind knocked out of him. Both tried to catch their breath. They eyed each other warily.

"You'll pay for cursing her, Ferretboy. This isn't over," Harry wheezed.

Draco winced at the aching pain in his nose. "I didn't do a damn thing to your Mudblood, Potty."

Harry's eyes flashed at the derogatory term.

Draco smirked.

"That would be too obvious. I'm not _daft_, you know. And," Draco gasped in pain as he tried to move, "I get plenty of pussy."

Harry glared at him. Malfoy pressed on; he didn't want to have to worry about Potty and the Weasel attacking him in the corridors every time he was alone.

"If I wanted to embarrass her like that, I'd have her do it with Crabbe or Goyle. And I'd give her a love potion, not _Lustfarae_."

Harry's eyebrows rose. "Is that so?"

"Try turning that one around in her favor. I don't think you could if she was mooning after one of them for a week. At least with me," he smirked, "she's got something to brag about."

Harry scowled and wheezed again, clutching his side. "If anything, she's scouring herself of your inbred ferret germs, not bragging."

Ignoring him, Draco continued, wincing as pain shot through his leg. "And being a—closet Dominatrix—well, let's just say it's increased her fear factor."

"What?" Harry asked menacingly, eyeing him.

"Think about it shit-for-brains. _Lustfarae_ releases inhibitions. It was a gamble for whoever had done it depending on whatever Granger was suppressing. If anybody was scared of the Head Girl before, they'll think twice about disobeying her now."

Draco wiped some blood off his face and smiled wickedly at Harry. "Or maybe they'd disobey her on purpose. Who knew she had that in her?" He thought back to her slapping him in third year and chuckled at the memory.

_Nice..._

The blood wouldn't stop coming out of his nose. He pinched the bridge, looked up at the ceiling, and continued in a slightly nasal voice. "Being a lovesick fool would embarrass her. That's how I would have fucked around with the Mudblood." Harry clenched his jaw at the word. "No gambling there."

Harry tentatively tried to bend his legs. "You seem to know an awful lot about _Lustfarae. _"

"Everyone does. You would too if you hadn't grown up with such a pathetic background."

Harry ignored the barb. "Then who do you think did it?" Another wheeze. "Parkinson? Zabini?"

Draco held in a sigh of relief now that Pothead saw his logic. He was in the clear.

"Why a Slytherin, Pothead? Doesn't Granger have any other enemies? What would be Pansy's motivation for having the Mudblood queen-" Harry clenched his fists and he smirked again, "-jump the pureblood king? She's been stalking me since fifth year. Or any Slytherins, for that matter? The only reason that a Slytherin'd have Granger jump me would be to get back at _me_ for something.

"Huh, now there's a thought…" he looked above Harry's head briefly, thinking. "Even still, choosing Granger doesn't make sense. Better someone who was so ugly, she could force a hard-on to go soft."

He saw Harry nod grudgingly out of the corner of his eye, trying to get his breathing back to normal.

Malfoy strained to get up and leave. "Now that I have you convinced, kindly explain to the Weasel there so that I don't have to worry about being jumped by his pansy arse."

He winced again as he pulled himself up to a standing position. "Nice try though, two on one. Is that how you two fairies normally get it on?"

Harry looked down at his bloody hands, breathing heavily. Malfoy had a point. Should he apologize? No, that was too much. But still…

"Hey, Malfoy –" Harry started.

Malfoy cut him off, as he limped down the hall backwards, facing Harry. "Whoever it was, I owe them a bout of thanks. I never would have thought of going after the Mudblood. Her tits are small, but they feel amazing." His hands made a lewd motion, and he winked.

Harry raged and wheezed while trying unsuccessfully to get up. "If you even go near-"

Draco called back after rounding the corner. "Don't forget to wake up your lover!"

Harry got to his feet, still wheezing, and bared his teeth. Fucking prat! He looked over at Ron.

"_Ennervate_!"

oooooooooooo

ooooooooooooo

Hermione was in the library, all the way in the back behind the maze of the Restricted Section where no one usually went, sitting on a stool in the farthest corner from the entrance. She was hiding. She couldn't look anyone in the eye after today's madness.

Madam Pomfrey had just given her a lecture, after apologizing to her profusely for not taking her seriously earlier in the morning (hah!), about _Lustfarae_ and the symptoms. Reading about it in the library hadn't taught her anything new.

It was late evening now, and the antidote would be ready around five o'clock in the afternoon tomorrow. She sighed; five o'clock just couldn't come soon enough.

She was supposed to let Pomfrey know if she had the, er, urge – as soon as possible - for Malfoy. How embarrassing. Thinking back, she would much rather have masturbated in the infirmary in front of Madam Pomfrey than tell Malfoy that she needed to get her rocks off with him, and have him smugly oblige her.

Ugh! What a horrible situation this was.

She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She was excused from all of her classes tomorrow and planned to stay the entire time here, alone. Maybe she'd go out for a run. A long run. It would be worth the pain in her knees. She hoped that Harry and Ron would understand her not wanting to be near them. She couldn't face them, or anyone, who had seen or heard about her romp. The whole school would know by now.

She sighed and returned to reading about _Lustfarae_ on page 742 in the sixth volume of _Moste Potente Potions_ when she noticed that the page was folded at the top. She knitted her eyebrows together. Dog-eared! Flipping through the volume, she noticed that another page was dog-eared. The second potion caused the person to smell like dung. She gasped. The person who cursed her had been using this book!

She paged through the volume more carefully but found no more marked pages. After copying the contents of the two potions to her notebook with a swish of her wand, she put the sixth volume down on the floor, and walked purposefully to get the fifth to see if anything else was dog-eared. For the first time since this morning, she felt back in control.

She was going to catch the miserable bastard who did this and make them _pay_!

oooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooooo

Draco glanced at his reflection in the mirror of the loo. Potty had really roughed him up. The phrase, 'Yeah, but you should see the other bloke,' came to mind. He smiled and winced. The fight was cathartic and he felt better, despite all the injuries.

"_Episkey_."

A painful crunch brought his nose back into shape. He grunted at the pain. At least now he didn't have to worry about being lynched. The next step was to get his pride back. Taking on both Pothead and Weaselboy had made him feel a little better, but he didn't want the whole school to think of him as Granger's bitch. Least of all her, even though it turned him on… _immensely_.

He just didn't want anyone else to know that.

Merlin, she was both sexy and scary in Potions. He'd be wanking to that memory of Potty and Weasel watching them go at it for a long time. He washed the blood off his face and hands, cast a few healing spells over his more prominent bruises and dried himself with his wand. He looked rugged, rather than his usual polished self. His chin-length hair was tousled. Even though the blood was washed off and he was mostly healed, there was still some scratching and bruising to be seen.

One way to reassert himself was to start with Granger. If he came to her and initiated the contact, he would be the one in control. She would beg him, not command him. He would decide what to give her and when, and she wouldn't have any choice but to wait and submit. According to what he knew of _Lustfarae_, the sooner he sated her lust from the moment it was incited, the less likely she would be to gain that extra strength and magical power.

His stomach clenched in anticipation as he left the loo. And where would Granger be? He smiled darkly. He'd wait until near closing time for the library. They were more likely to be the only ones there.

ooooooooooooooo

oooooooooooooo

Hermione was sitting on the floor in her far corner of the Restricted Section with all ten volumes of _Moste Potente Potions_ spread out next to her, opened to various dog-eared pages. She had levitated the entire series from the Potions section to this corner so that she could remain isolated. In her notebook, she had copies of thirteen potions, their uses, ingredients, preparation instructions, and antidotes, if applicable. Maybe if she could understand the logic of whoever had cursed her in choosing the potion, she would be able to pinpoint who the perpetrator was.

Why these thirteen? And why _Lustfarae_? Why not the other twelve? She studied her notebook. One thing the potions had in common was that they all caused some degree of embarrassment or mortification. But she knew that would be the case already. Also, they all had known antidotes. So, the perpetrator wasn't completely sadistic.

She turned back to _Lustfarae _and studied the properties again when she noticed a few new things that made her feel uneasy. The potion was a white liquid and could be administered through the skin. There was only one white liquid that her skin had come into contact with lately.

The hair potion.

She closed her eyes and let out a breath. She had to have taken the potion between yesterday's Potions class, since she didn't find Malfoy attractive then, and this morning's breakfast, when she clearly felt the effects. The hair potion certainly fell into that time frame.

But it wasn't like her! If Ginny wanted to publicly humiliate her, she'd tell her off and hex her in front of everyone, making sure that Hermione knew just who was doing it and why. That was more Ginny's style. She wasn't devious and backstabbing.

Plus, giving it to her as a hair potion would be very irresponsible. What if somebody had touched her head while the potion was sitting for an hour? She wouldn't be the only one affected. What if someone else helped her apply it? Or rinse it out? No, Ginny was more responsible than that.

She thought of Draco being chased down the hall by five bat-shit crazy girls and chuckled despite herself.

And why would Ginny do it? They'd already had it out over Ron. She cringed at the memory. She knew that Ginny still held a slight resentment towards her but thought she'd gotten over it. At least, it seemed like she had. Ron had moved on and he was with Lavender. He was happy. That had helped Ginny and Hermione's friendship get back on track tremendously.

No, no. It definitely wasn't Ginny. She didn't want to think of her friend in that way.

Perhaps it was Lavender's lip gloss? Could she have mixed the potion in it? But Lavender had also put it on. At least, it looked like she had. Hermione didn't make a point of studying Lavender's grooming habits up close. In any case, the person who carried this out had to be fairly intelligent to do so without getting caught. No, it wasn't Lavender.

What if she ingested it? Then it would have to have been either from the quick meal she picked up at dinner yesterday or at breakfast this morning. But how would someone get it into her food? That would be extremely difficult and require some finesse. She thought some more. No one was with her as she had picked up dinner, but lots of people were at breakfast.

_Including the Ravenclaws! _

Now _they'd_ be smart enough to pull a stunt like this. She wondered if they were jealous of her academic standing. Ravenclaws had a history of being at the top of the class, and ever since she came to Hogwarts, that position had been taken by a Gryffindor.

The potion was definitely messing with her ability to study. Then again, it was only going to last until she got the antidote. If the Ravenclaws wanted to seriously harm her grades, this wasn't the way to do it. Snape had known right away what she had been given.

When it came down to it, the dog-eared pages showed that the person wanted to humiliate her. Maybe the Ravenclaws didn't want to take the top place from her unfairly, seeing as they could respect her hard work, and only wanted a bit of revenge. She started furiously scribbling her theories in another one of her notebooks, but blaming the Ravenclaws was the weakest of the bunch. None of them were really that vindictive.

Or so she thought.

The problem was that the whole thing just _reeked_ of Slytherin. It was cunning; it was devious; it was well thought out; it was _exactly_ what someone of their house would do. _And _Blaise Zabini came by her table at breakfast that day. But what would his motivation be? She had only started talking to him this year since they shared Head duties. As far as she knew, there was no animosity between them.

And he and Malfoy were friends, weren't they? Why make Malfoy the target? She wrote down Blaise's name, added a question mark, and then stopped and sniffed.

No! Was he…?

She looked up and sniffed again.

_Shit!_

He was definitely here. She felt a tightening in her loins. Maybe she could get away with just masturbating and then take a sleeping draught until morning.

Did he know that she was here?

Stupid question.

Madam Pomfrey explained to her that he was told to keep away unless she asked for him. That prat!

Well, he wasn't winning this round. She was going to masturbate and go into a coma-like sleep until morning. Maybe she could put herself to sleep until five o'clock in the afternoon tomorrow. Maybe she could have Ginny throw a Stunner at her. But right now, she needed to get away from him.

She grabbed her notebooks, cast a Silencing Charm on her feet, and quickly got up. She gazed forlornly at the scattered books on the floor. She hated it when people didn't return books to their place. Madam Pince would have to forgive her this once. She crept as quickly and as quietly as she could through the maze of the Restricted Section, turning corners of shelves and books, making for her bag.

"Graaaaaangeeerrrrr," she heard a male voice call.

She instinctively ducked, turned around, and tried to listen. He had probably silenced his feet as well.

Git.

She saw her bag with her things spread out on the table at the end of the row of books. Was he waiting for her there? Maybe she could make a run for her things and sprint to the library entrance, but then, she'd be in full view. He would be expecting that and would follow her out, trying to catch her before she got back to Gryffindor Tower.

She could use the Summoning Charm on her bag. Could she summon everything else on the table all at once? If so, she could leave the library undetected by taking a convoluted path towards the exit and by staying behind the stacks against the wall. Hopefully, he wouldn't even notice when she had left. She'd be safe back in Gryffindor Tower by then, and he'd still be looking for her here. Yes, that was probably the best course of action.

She inhaled. Ugh, she could still smell him. She shuddered and began to feel hot between her legs.

"_Accio _bag!" Her satchel flew down the row of shelves to her with a whoosh. She looked at the books, papers, quill, and ink spread out on the table. She took a deep breath, and concentrated on all of the objects. Slowly, she exhaled and swished her wand.

"_Accio _things!" Delightedly, she watched as all the contents of the table flew towards her and landed in her bag, which she held open.

She shoved her notebook inside, threw her bag over her shoulder, turned around, and began to work her way towards the back wall of the library between the rows and stacks of books. She turned right and retraced her steps back towards the corner where she had been sitting before.

"Graaaaaangeeeerrrrr…"

She stopped in her tracks. Her heart thudded loudly in her chest with anticipation. Where was he? She could smell him everywhere, but it didn't help her locate him. He must have charmed his voice so that she couldn't pinpoint where he was. And, dammit, if the anticipation of this chase of his wasn't turning her on even more.

"That was some impressive magic for a Mudblood," he purred behind her. She whipped around and pointed her wand at… nothing. It had sounded like his voice had come from right behind her. Crap! He knew where she was if he could do that. The Summoning Charm must have given her away.

Her stomach clenched in nervous excitement. Maybe she should make a run for it. She gave up all pretenses and bolted towards the exit of the stacks in an effort to get to the library entrance in the shortest possible distance. After rounding a corner, she slammed into his hard, warm body.

Malfoy's hands were on her shoulders and he steadied her to keep her from falling backwards to the ground. Her arms were burning where he touched her. Slowly, she looked up from his chest to his face. He was too close. Too close! She gazed into his grey eyes, and visibly shuddered as he smirked down at her.

"Now, now, Granger, where are you hurrying off to if I'm so pleasant to be around?"

He leaned in towards her, as she backed up and shrugged his hands off her arms. "Can't you just stay away, Malfoy? Wasn't today enough? They told you –"

"And since when do I do as I'm told?" His voice became husky. "Unless you tell me what to do."

She flushed at the memory and realized that he was backing her into the very corner that she was sitting in earlier with the Potions books. Could she talk her way out of this one?

"Look Malfoy, we can just forget about this. I can go… relieve myself, and take a sleeping draught, knock myself out until five o'clock tomorrow afternoon when the antidote is ready, and in return, I'll… do homework for you." Her eyes widened at the perfect bargaining chip. "I'll do that Ancient Runes project for you! Isn't there something else that you want? Something besides… that?" she couldn't keep the desperation out of her voice.

Draco was in his glory. This was just how he wanted her. Pleading with him. "Hmm…" he considered, tilting his head and looking down at her with a smile, still backing her into the corner. "Homework…"

_Bollocks_! He was toying with her.

He leered at her. "I could watch you… relieve yourself." Smiling lasciviously, he cast a Silencing Charm around them. "That might be a sufficient exchange."

She blushed and her knickers got wet at the thought of him watching her masturbate. She backed away from him and he kept walking forward, keeping the distance between them close, their chests almost touching.

"That's even worse," she answered.

He smiled suggestively in answer. "I'd do it for you much better than you could."

Her stomach tightened at his words, and she stumbled over the pile of books that she had left on the floor. The back of her legs hit the stool in the corner, and she was forced to sit on it. He leaned down at her, his face almost touching hers with an arm on either side of her head. His hot breath caressed her throat and mouth. She clutched her satchel to her body, hoping it would offer some protection from him, and nervously stared up at him. She was cornered, literally and figuratively.

Slowly, she let out a breath and held her head up. "Fine, Malfoy. You win. Let's just do it and get it over with. We'll find an abandoned classroom, lock the door, bump uglies, and that'll be it."

He threw back his head and laughed.

Merlin, he was sexier than anybody had a right to be, she thought.

His eyes stared down at her with both lust and amusement. "Oh no, that's not what I consider a win." His gaze turned predatory. "This time we're doing it _my_ way."

He leaned down even further, as if to kiss her. His lips were so close to hers that she could feel them lightly grazing her mouth. She tingled all over. What was he doing? She was already turned on; they needed to have sex or at least get her off. He didn't need to continue; surely he must know that. Her breath hitched.

His voice lowered, and he spoke with his lips barely touching hers. "I guarantee you'll like it."

"Stop it," she whispered. She closed her eyes, and turned her face to the side.

His lips spread into a grin as he stared at the line from her jaw down to her exposed neck and heaving chest. She was beginning to sweat.

"Why? I want to taste you again."

He slowly ran his lips along her jaw line, opening them slightly and darting his tongue out to graze her skin. She shivered, and rubbed her thighs together. His grin widening, he lowered his right arm and placed his hand on her left knee, gentle but firm. She turned to him, dropped her bag unceremoniously to the floor, and tried to shove off his hand with both of hers. His grip tightened on her knee and she winced.

"I don't want you to touch me like that. I just want to get this over with. I'll be a quick and easy lay, okay?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Where's the fun in that?" His left hand came down to her waist, gently tugging her blouse out from the band of her skirt. She could feel his fingers probing her flesh.

"What are you –" Panicked, she brought one hand up to his on her waist and tried to push it down. "– we don't have to be undressed!"

She succeeded in pushing the hand on her waist downward, but the hand on her knee steadily inched slowly up her thigh and under her skirt. He was kneading her flesh with his forefingers and tracing patterns with his thumb. Her left hand wasn't nearly strong enough to keep his right hand at bay.

"I want to see you," he said with darkened eyes.

She breathed in his scent again. He was too close to her! Her nipples hardened; her thighs tingled. Everywhere his hand touched sent a jolt straight to her groin. The left hand that she had succeeded in pushing downwards was now groped her arse, eliciting a whimper from her.

She squirmed and briefly released her grip on his left hand. Draco's breathing sped up and he gave a quick tug on her blouse before she could react. His hand snaked up the side of her shirt and started to probe its way up her ribcage. She felt as if she were on fire. She tried to pull his hand down with hers, but she wasn't strong enough to do it while keeping her other hand on her thigh. His fingers crept upwards and pulled the cup of her bra down. Her heart rate increased and she felt out of control. It was too much!

"Stop it," she pleaded. "I don't like it."

"Yes –" His thumb swiped the underside of her bared breast and she gasped. "– you do."

"No, I –" She knew it was futile to lie. "I don't like you doing it to me. You're a … I just don't like you," she spat out.

She felt his hand creep even closer to the hot pulsing center between her legs. She inhaled sharply.

"I know." He bared his teeth at her in a wicked grin. "That's what makes this so much fun."

She didn't quite hate him before, but she was getting pretty close to it now. Her anger mingled with her desire and she was determined to not let him win. She moved her hand from her upper thigh and clamped it down between her legs. Draco glanced down and raised an eyebrow.

Unphased, he moved his right hand up and stroked the creases between her fingers, as if it was her clit. Her eyes widened at the blatant insinuation and some of her wetness seeped between her knickers and fingers. His fingers probed the creases as if seeking entrance and felt the moisture.

His cock twitched. She was ready.

Breathing more heavily, he pulled his hand back. Hermione shivered as his eyes pierced hers. Slowly, deliberately, he licked her juices off his fingertips.

"Fuck," she dazedly whispered.

His fingers caressed her bared breast underneath her blouse, and she involuntarily arched towards him and groaned. Draco's already prominent erection was straining through his trousers, but he needed to hear her beg before he took her. He needed to be in control this time. He needed to decide what she would feel, when she would come.

"No, unnngh! I –" she gasped as she felt his two fingers pinch her nipple.

Oh! It was exquisite pain. She tried to pull his left hand down with her right and bucked her hips on the stool. He watched her reactions, and she shut her eyes and turned her head to the side; she couldn't take the heat of his eyes on her.

His fingers slowly increased the pressure on her nipple and he twisted it so slowly, back and forth, back and forth, increasing and decreasing the pressure. The pace of her breathing increased and her body flushed with heat. His right hand was groping her inner thigh, between her legs, stroking and kneading, pressing between the creases of her fingers as she struggled to keep her hand clamped in place, stroking her up and down.

"Stop it," she moaned, as he stared at her, "stop it…"

She was hot between her legs, and she wanted friction. She desperately wanted him to touch her down there, touch her everywhere, but she couldn't let him.

"Hermione," he growled. Her eyes fluttered open at the sound of her first name on his lips.

"Look at me." She shivered at the sound of need in his voice.

"Please, stop," she pleaded again.

The pressure on her nipple increased unbearably. "Ow… " she groaned.

The pressure increased; she pulled on his left hand with her right, but she couldn't pull his hand off of her breast.

"Owwwww…." she groaned. His smile widened.

The pressure on her nipple intensified. She bit her lip and his mouth opened slightly as he watched her experience both pleasure and agony. She began to writhe on the stool.

_Almost there,_he thought.

"Owwww… stopitstopitstopit- Draco, please stop it! Please!" she whimpered, moaning again.

He increased the pressure even further; she let out a scream of frustration, and giving in, she brought her second hand up and pried his fingers off her nipple. Her sigh of relief turned into a choked gasp as his fingers slid underneath the fabric of her knickers to rub the nub of her clitoris.

A wave of heat encompassed her entire body. She threw her head back and pushed her pelvis forward while gripping his shoulders.

"Merlin!" she gasped. She was hot, she was wet, and she wanted him inside her. Now.

His constrained erection was hurting him as he watched her writhe on the stool. One hand of his was massaging her breast and twisting the nipple he had just punished; the other was rubbing circles around her clit. She was on the brink, but he wasn't giving it to her. Not yet.

"Open your eyes, Hermione," he growled again. He needed to have her watching him. Needed to see her react to him.

She opened her lust-filled eyes and gazed at him, moaning as a shudder passed through her. His finger kept circling her clit, and she tried to move her pelvis so that it would graze the nub, but he always kept his touch just out of reach. She groaned in frustration.

"More… there… come on!" she panted.

He chuckled, loving every minute. "You'll have to ask nicely. I still remember how you ordered me around last time."

"More, please… Draco?" she pleaded and moaned again as his finger continued to circle her nub.

"Pardon? I don't think I heard you," he said in a low voice.

Hermione whimpered in frustration, beyond caring about her pride. "Please Draco, I need you to touch me… there… right there! Please! Pleeeeease!"

Rather than give her what she'd asked for, he switched to circling her nub with his thumb and inserted a finger into her core. She gasped and groaned at the feel of the hot, tight walls inside of her. His fingers felt for the hardened area of her G-spot and began to apply pressure there, as he brought his finger in and out, curling it upwards so that it would roughly stroke that sensitive area.

She latched onto his shoulders and thrust her body towards him. "Oh, Merliiiiiiin!" she whined as she fisted his clothes.

Hermione didn't think that she could get any more wound up, but the application of pressure to her inside wall, while still denying her clit contact with his thumb was driving her mad. Draco slowed the pace of his stroking down. She screamed in frustration again and writhed on the stool.

"No, please, Draco! Do it faster!" She was half shouting, half sobbing.

Draco picked up the pace again.

"Oh yes! More! Please, Draco! Just like that!" She dug her fingers into his arms, clenched his shirt, and thrashed her head back and forth alternately letting out more moans and shouts with the intensity of his stroking. He stared at her, fascinated.

He inserted another finger and began to stroke her G-spot with both.

"Yes! More! Draco! Please! I can't…unnnggghhh… I need… More!" She writhed on the stool, completely drenched in sweat, eyes hooded and full of lust, pleading for him. Her pelvis pushed forward, legs spread as wide as they could go. Completely and utterly at his mercy.

Draco was thoroughly enjoying her sexual frustration. And yet he still didn't want her to come. Having her in his control, begging him to get her off was too much euphoria to let go of quickly. The feeling went straight from his head to his groin. He couldn't stop, even to take her himself.

Hermione Granger at his mercy, begging him for release, was enthralling.

His iron gaze remained unwavering as she bit her lip, staring up at him with pleading eyes.

He leaned in and growled in her ear. "Tell me who is in control."

She didn't care anymore. "You are!" she sobbed. "You are! Just… please! Draco!"

Enjoying her reactions, he gave her a wicked grin. His circling slowed down, as did his stroking of her G-spot. She shook her head, half sobbing.

"No, no! Please don't slow down! I need more!" He kept up the slow, agonizing pace, and she bucked forward. Her body was screaming for release; _she_was screaming for release. She gripped his shoulders again, trying to bring him closer, and she thrust her pelvis forward towards him, trying anything to relieve the tension that she was feeling. She would have touched herself, far beyond the mortification of doing it in front of him, but she knew that it had to be him who got her off.

"I need more!" she sobbed.

Suddenly, her bucking and shuddering stopped and her voice lowered an octave.

"I need more."

Draco's head snapped up in attention to see her eyes blazing at him.

_Shit!_

Hermione, no longer sobbing and out of control, grabbed his hair and pushed his head down to her core.

"Make me come. Now!" she ordered.

Boy did he ever fuck up.

He should have made her come then. Could've, should've, would've… He pulled her knickers to the side and proceeded to lick her clit while finger-fucking her.

A shudder went through her body. "Yes, yes! Just like that! Keep going! Keep going!"

As he felt her get close, pinched her nub and rubbed it between his fingers.

"Unngh! Yeeesssssss!" she yelled.

Hermione screamed. She pinned his head between her legs with one hand and clutched his shirt with the other. Pulling hard, she ripped holes where her nails were, and fisted his hair painfully. Gripping him tightly with her hands and legs, she held on as spasm after spasm rocked through her. He continued licking her clit and fingering her as she shuddered and convulsed around his body. He felt her contractions around his fingers and groaned with the pleasure of feeling her come. She continued to rock back and forth, riding out the last of her orgasms until she felt no more. After a few deep breaths, she smacked his face to the side violently.

"Enough!"

His eyes widened in fear. She hadn't returned to normal after coming?

She stood up from the stool as he warily backed up the aisle, erection still prominent. She was much smaller than him, but he knew better. She slowly approached him, shirt half unbuttoned and untucked, her skirt hiked up to one side, exposing part of her inner leg. He could see some of her juices still glistening there. One breast was out of her bra, uncovered. Her eyes blazed at him in lust and anger.

Her petite form lunged at his much larger one, tackled him to the floor, and straddled him. He didn't even try to struggle, as he didn't want to make her more upset than she already was. Hermione reached underneath her skirt and tugged until her knickers ripped off her body and flew across the floor. He immediately grabbed them and stuffed them in his pocket while she worked on his belt. It certainly wasn't every day that he got to fuck Hermione Granger and he was taking a souvenir.  
As she whipped off his belt, he blanched as he thought what she might do with it, but she was more intent on her release and with one strong tug, she pulled his trousers down, tearing them. She inserted her hands into the opening of his boxers and ripped them apart, releasing his member.

Not wasting any time, she positioned herself on top and sank onto him. Draco gasped as he felt her hymen break. Her back arched and she groaned.

After taking a few seconds to catch her breath, she rocked back and forth, riding his erection. He brought up his other hand to cup her bottom, matching her pace as she slid back and forth on his length. He started giving her butt the occasional smack, egging her on.

"Yesss," she hissed.

She rode him harder. "I want you deeper… deeper!" she commanded him.

He grabbed her arms, pulled himself up and growled down at her. "Get on your hands and knees, Granger. I'll fuck you so deep you won't be able to walk."

She pushed him back down, and he winced, hitting his head on the floor. She let out a throaty laugh, smacked his face to the side, and grabbed his chin with her hand, forcing him to look at her. His cock twitch inside her and she smacked him again.

"Behave!" she said with small smile. "You don't get to be on top, and you don't get to do me from behind. Sit against the shelves!" She backslapped him, and his face stung. He glared back at her, but didn't say anything.

Draco pushed himself up on his hands and brought them back far enough, so that he was sitting against the wall. Hermione placed her feet on the wall on either side of him, bending her knees, as she gripped the sides of his arse to pull herself in closer. She slid back and forth using her legs to push herself out and her arms to pull herself in.

She felt phenomenal, but his rear was going to be very bruised and scratched by the time this was over. He hoped that would be all that would be bruised. Suddenly, she gripped his bum tightly and pulled herself in as far as she would go. She cried out, and he shuddered as a wave of pleasure surged through him.

He grabbed her arse and slid her back and forth, trying to get deeper inside of her. "Yes!" she cried out. "Faster!" she moaned, as he was close to coming.

His head flew to the side as she smacked him again. "Faster!" Another smack. "Faster!" Good Merlin! Between her smacking him and him plunging into her heat, he was going to come. He tried to slow the pace down, but she wouldn't let him.

"Hermione," he grunted. "You have to slow down, I-"

"Faster!"

_Smack!_

He tried thinking of Snape naked, McGonagall naked, Crabbe naked, Millicent Bulstrode naked. Desperate enough, he thought of the Weasel naked.

It didn't help.

"Hermione, wait! I'm…ungghhh!" He bucked as he came inside her and his hips lifted her off the ground. She smacked him, forced him down again, and continued to thrust herself on him, grabbing his bum as she did so. The last of his seed pumped into her and he let out a yell. He grabbed her rear to try to stop her, but she kept riding him.

He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to get her off him, but she had him pinned down.

"No! It's too much! I can't…" His body spasmed again. "I can't! Please! Hermione!"

He bucked, trying to get her off, but she was too strong. She smiled sinfully down at him and kept sliding on his length, impaling herself and groaning each time he hit her G-spot. She smacked him again.

"Merlin! It's too much! Please!" She moaned and slid back and forth, riding his spent and oversensitive member as hard as she could. "Hermione, stop it! Please! I can't…"

_Smack!_

She wouldn't stop, and his head swirled as his vision began to go black. She smacked him again.

She laughed. "Pay attention!"

"Please… I can't…"

His pained pleas to stop only made her orgasm stronger. She wailed as she came and her body contracted around him. She clutched at him, threw her head back, and laughed as wave after wave of pleasure coursed through her. Her orgasm blasted through her body while his pleas fell silent. He had passed out.

oooooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooooo

Hermione looked down at Draco, slouched against the wall. She was awful. She was horrible. Yes, he was horrible too, but what she did was ten times worse. She knew that it wasn't her, that it was the effects of the _Lustfarae_, and that he brought it on himself. But she still felt bad.

What a way to lose your virginity. Not that she really cared, with everything else that was going on. It's just a piece of skin. And it's not like it was painful. In her lust-filled haze, she hadn't even noticed her hymen tearing. After a moment of thought, she felt even worse, as if her lack of pain made his more unbearable.

Gently, she repaired his torn clothing, used a Scouring Spell to clean him up and dressed him, partly easing her guilt. Her skirt was ripped in half and she repaired that as well before donning it. She turned around and realized she had no idea where she had flung her underwear. She smoothed out her shirt, buttoned all the buttons, and tied her hair back into a ponytail to try to hide her sex-tousled hair. She collected her things and stared down at Malfoy.

Prat that he was, she still couldn't leave him here like this. But she didn't want to have to deal with him right now either. Backing to the farthest area of the section from where she could still see him, she revived him with a swish of her wand. She waited until she saw him stir, and then made a mad dash towards the library exit.

oooooooooooooooooo

oooooooooooooooooo

When Draco woke up, the first thing he felt was an incredible soreness between his legs. He tried to get up.

"Aah!"

He clutched his member and balls. Between fucking Granger and the fight with Potty, his body was in real pain. He lay there on the library floor in the fetal position. After a few minutes, the sudden pain began to subside. Gingerly, he unfurled himself and stood up.

It was his own damn fault of course; he pushed her too far. Looking down, he realized that she must have repaired his clothes and dressed him. He smirked incredulously. Did she feel _bad _about what happened?

He hoped so. People with guilt could be manipulated so easily. He had until five o'clock in the afternoon tomorrow to have another go at her. Aside from the bit at the end, this was by far the most amazing sex he'd ever had!

Images flashed of her with her arms clutching his, legs spread, breast exposed, sweat dripping down her body, and her wet, swollen pussy, sobbing for him to grant her release.

His cock twitched at the thought.

"Ow!"

Pain! He clutched himself again.

oooooooooooooooooooo

oooooooooooooooooooooo

Hermione ran up the stairs to the girls' dorms in Gryffindor Tower, ignoring her friends calling after her and rushed to her room. She just needed to sleep. She added five drops of the Sleeping Draught to a glass of water, as Madam Pomfrey had instructed and drank the glass. She placed the bottle inside her drawer and closed it before whipping the drawer open again.

How could she be so stupid!

She feverishly read the contraceptive pamphlet looking over the various charms. Most were simple and performed before the act. There was one, which was a bit more complicated and could be performed up to an hour after relations. She breathed a sigh of relief. It hadn't been more than a half hour since she had, well, raped him. She swallowed.

_Stupid prat. _

Hermione practiced the charm to make sure she got the pronunciation and wand movements right before then casting it onto herself. She lay down on her pillow, closed her eyes, and drifted off into what she hoped would be an uneventful and dreamless sleep.

**Chapter End Notes:**

So... who do you guys think it is now?  
Sometimes, I can't tell how obvious I'm being and it's interesting to see who people think it is as the story progresses.  
Hope you're all enjoying this!


	4. Chapter 4: Wednesday morning

**Chapter 4 - Wednesday morning**

Hermione stayed in bed and listened to the rest of the girls get ready for classes. She had only dared to peep out and go down to the common room after everyone left. She had intended on avoiding everyone, especially Draco, and just hoped to make it to five o'clock in the afternoon in one piece.

She sighed in frustration. Still nine hours to go. She brought out her notebook, along with the copies of thirteen potions and her scribbled theories out of her bag, and started to page through them all, humming to herself. Oh, she was going to find the berk who did this to her and get him back.

An hour later, she heard the portrait swing open.

"Hermione?" Ginny called up from the common room. "I just brought you some food so you wouldn't have to go downstairs if you don't want to. And I'm still up for running today if you are."

Hermione looked down from the railing. "Thanks, Ginny. You're a good friend." She continued on down the stairs. "I don't know how I can ever show my face to anyone after what I did. It's just so… mortifying! Everyone in Potions saw… parts of me." She buried her face in her hands.

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Didn't you hear? There's nothing but respect for the girl who made Malfoy her bitch."

Hermione coughed violently, thinking she heard wrong. "Pardon?"

Ginny smiled and walked over to her. "You've got Harry to thank for that one. As soon as you ran out of the classroom, he cracked a joke about you giving it to Malfoy up the arse with a strap on. It's his reputation that's suffered, not yours."

"Oh…" She hadn't thought of it from that angle before; she was so absorbed in her own humiliation. Well, that would certainly explain why Malfoy did what he did last night in the library. He had wanted to reassert himself. "I guess it's better than being thought of as just another conquest – in public, no less."

"If anything, I think your reputation improved," Ginny said, laughing.

Hermione bit her lip. "At one point, I was considering leaving the wizarding world permanently to save myself from the embarrassment of ever looking anyone in the eye again."

Ginny scoffed at her. "Yeah, right. You'd miss us too much. And we wouldn't let you either."

She gave Ginny a hug. "Tell Harry thanks for me, will you? The boys, they understand about me avoiding them?"

"I think they're just as embarrassed and… maybe a little bit afraid of you. But they've defended you admirably. They tried to beat up Malfoy after class."

"What?" Hermione said with disapproval.

"Oh, come on! Would you expect any less of them?"

"I guess not," Hermione gave a small smile. "So what happened?"

"Malfoy threw a Stunner at Ron, and he and Harry did the rest the Muggle way. They left it at a draw."

"Two against one?" Hermione said, aghast. "That's not like them."

"I don't know if they intended for it to be that way. You never know if Malfoy is with Crabbe and Goyle, but that's the way it turned out. In any case, Harry doesn't think it was him."

"I don't either. It doesn't make sense," Hermione answered. So, he also came to her in the library after the fight? She felt even worse about what she did to him.

"So who do you think did it?" Ginny asked, eyeing her.

Hermione studied Ginny. Should she tell her what she found? She wanted to trust her friend. No, she _did_ trust her friend. But a nagging voice in the back of her head told her to be cautious until she had explored her leads more thoroughly.

"I think it's one of the Ravenclaws. They could have slipped it to me at breakfast."

"Why? Jealous of your grades?"

"That's the only reason I can think of."

"Hmm. We'll figure out who it is. And when we do, they've got a Bat-Bogey Hex waiting for them." Ginny wiggled her eyebrows.

Hermione laughed as Ginny headed out the door and went back upstairs. She munched on her food and glanced at the papers spread out before her. Besides the commonality of the potions causing embarrassment to the user and the availability of antidotes, she saw that they were relatively easy to make. That meant that the student was not necessarily that proficient with potions if they were limiting themselves in that regard. Or maybe they _were_ good and figured simplicity was best to reduce the chances of getting caught. Complicated plans engendered complications. Which would mean that they were rather intelligent if they had thought that through.

_Argh!_ She sighed in frustration. She could go in circles of logic for hours.

At least she had figured out how the potion could have been given to her at breakfast. _Lustfarae_ was the only potion of the thirteen that would retain all of its properties if converted to powder form. The potion itself was white. In powder form, it would look like salt. How someone got the powder in the saltshaker, specifically in the saltshaker that _she_ was using, she hadn't figured out yet.

They would have had to be near the table that morning in order to do so. _That_ was probably the reason the _Lustfarae_ was chosen over the twelve others. She was developing a grudging respect for the intelligence of her nemesis.

And then she noticed something that she had skipped over previously. The _Lustfarae_ potion _smelled like lemons_! She gasped. The bastard who did this was in the Prefect's bathroom that day! It was a bloody Prefect! Well, that certainly narrowed down the list of suspects.

Oh.

Unless the Prefects gave out the bathroom password to someone else.

Her heart sank. She needed a break from this, and her thoughts returned to Malfoy.

His ego was bruised. Especially after last night, where she had made him "her bitch" again, as Harry had said. Would he back off now or would he try and find her again? And if he did, what would he do with her this time? She shivered as images of him dominating her came to her head and the familiar heat spread to her abdomen.

_Damn!_

She would have to go outside for a nonstop run until five o'clock in the afternoon. That's what she'd do. It would keep her mind off of things.

More specifically, his thing. Ugh!

She leaned back on her bed and hitched up her skirt to thoughts of him and sighed.

ooooooooooooooooo

oooooooooooooooooo

Draco sat in the Great Hall during lunch and glared over at the Gryffindor Table. No Hermione. Of course, she'd be avoiding everyone today. And fat chance he'd find her in the library after yesterday.

He felt a pat on his back.

Fuck, here it comes. He'd managed to avoid everyone at breakfast by getting up early, but he couldn't do the same for lunch.

"So, Drakie," a voice said, as Draco cringed. Blaise must really think he had the upper hand if he was using that name now. "Who gave you those bruises? Did Granger do that while you were biting the pillow?"

Laughter filled the Slytherin table as students sat down to eat.

Pansy just glared at him as she sat down, not that he cared.

Draco whacked Blaise's arm off of his shoulder. "Fuck off, Zabini."

He stared straight ahead while trying to finish his food in peace.

"Oh, come on. If I were in this position, you'd be ragging on me. But I guess you like being ragged on... by Mudbloods."

More laughter.

Draco's jaw clenched.

"I said, shut it."

Blaise laughed. "Is that what Granger said before she buggered you up the arse?"

The table roared with laughter now.

Draco spun around and grabbed Blaise's throat collar. "That's some pretty foul language coming from the mouth you kiss that whore of a mother with," he hissed at him menacingly.

Forks clattered to plates. The Slytherin table went silent.

Blaise's eyes narrowed dangerously. His voice lowered. "Take. It. Back."

Draco growled at him. "No."

Blaise lunged at Draco, and the two toppled over their chairs and onto the floor, wrestling each other. It was a poor move on Blaise's part. He was a far more formidable opponent with a wand. Draco landed a punch on Blaise, which would most certainly become a black eye, and elbowed him in the ribs, hearing a satisfying crack. Blaise howled.

Professors quickly rushed over before the fight could get even more out of hand. Snape restrained the two with a whisk of his wand and tsked at them.

"Our Head Boy and a Prefect fighting on school grounds. I think that calls for three weeks' worth of detentions… and a loss of your Hogsmeade privileges until after Christmas. One hundred points from Slytherin." His voice dripped poison as he eyed the two. "You make me ashamed to be the Head of this House. Both of you get down to the hospital wing. Now." He turned and walked away.

The two stared daggers at each other, breathing frantically. Blaise was clutching his side. Draco stalked out of the Great Hall, and not towards the hospital wing. Blaise would get over the fight eventually. Insults to mothers happened every few months or so in the Slytherin House, and like today, it usually ended up in a fight. He smirked at Blaise's predictable behavior. Then again, he would have done the same had someone called his mother a whore.

ooooooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooooooo

The Gryffindor table watched the scene with open mouths, as did everyone else. Ginny had just entered after leaving Hermione in Gryffindor tower. She sat down next to Harry and looked back and forth at everyone in her group.

"What'd I miss?"

"Malfoy and Zabini fighting. I don't think he's taking this hit to his reputation well. On the other hand, the next person will think twice before badgering him. Zabini doesn't look too good," Harry said, looking sideways at Ron staring intently at Malfoy. Ron looked like he wanted nothing better than to restart the fight with him.

"You're not going to provoke him, Ron. Are you?"

"Bugger off, Harry. You got to pound on him already. I didn't."

"Come on, Ron," Ginny pleaded. "He's already gotten beaten on, twice. He doesn't need it again. And we've already discussed that it wasn't him who did this to her."

Ron seethed. "I. Don't. Fucking. Care. And I still think he did it. You agree with me, don't you, Lav?"

"I don't know if he did or not," Lavender answered quietly. "But I wish you would leave this alone. She's suffering, he's suffering, just let it go." She stared at her hands. "They say the antidote will be ready this evening anyway. It will all be over."

Ron kept staring at the entrance to the Great Hall where Malfoy had exited.

Ginny sighed. Testosterone was the cause of 99% of the world's problems. That was just scientific fact. They should line the entire male population up against the wall and Avada the lot. Problem solved.

ooooooooooooooooooo

oooooooooooooooooooo

Draco stalked through the hallways with his robes billowing behind him, glaring at anyone who dared to meet his eyes. People avoided him as news of his fight with Blaise spread.

_Good,_ he thought. Back to people fearing him, just like he had, er, planned. It was worth a few detentions. Hopefully with a bit more class participation than he usually gave, he could earn back the House points.

Even though he was still feeling murderous from breakfast, he was partly mollified in that Mission 2 was mostly accomplished. His reputation was almost intact. Another fight or two should clear that problem up. Hopefully it wouldn't have to be in front of any teachers.

Now he just had to find Granger and get his dignity back from her. He didn't mind skiving off his classes today for a chance at her again. What were a few more detentions in comparison to the fuck of a lifetime? He smirked at the thought of her sobbing and begging him last night.

His cock remembered as well, and he readjusted himself in his pants. No soreness this time. Draco turned a corner and walked down another hallway. Where would she be? Not the library. She'd know better than that. And he didn't think that she'd venture going where others were liable to stop her and ask her questions. She'd prefer solitude. Would she stay up in Gryffindor Tower all day? If she did, he didn't have a chance of getting to her.

If she did, she'd have to stay cooped up in her room, avoiding the common room. She'd want freedom. Somewhere to take her mind off of – he smirked – him. He pushed open the large doors to the entrance of the castle and stepped outside into the sunlight.

"Granger, Granger, Granger… I know you're out there."

ooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooooo

Hermione was halfway through her third lap around the grounds. She felt great, but her knees were sore and she still had seven hours to go. She doubted that she could run continuously for seven hours, but she could try! Maybe if she could run for at least three hours, she'd be too winded and sore to think about anything else before five o'clock arrived.

Since there was no Quidditch practice at this time of day, maybe she could go and use some of the strengthening equipment by the pitch when she finished her run. That would take up time.

Ginny had agreed to leave her some food for lunch in her room so that she could go get it when everyone would be in class. Maybe she could just push her body to exhaustion, eat like a pig, and then take a Sleeping Draught for the rest of the day.

_Argh!_ Would five o'clock never come?

oooooooooooooooo

oooooooooooooooooo

Draco had been wandering around outside aimlessly for the past two hours with no sign of seeing her. He'd already checked the spots that students congregated at on nice days. On the off chance that she actually would want company, he headed down to Hagrid's hut and peeked inside.

There was the oaf, but no Granger.

Maybe his theory was wrong, and she wasn't outside at all and had opted to seclude herself in her dorm. He was about to head back to the castle when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Instinctively, he ducked back behind the hut to hide his body and peered around the corner. Was that Granger running? He appraised her. And _what_ was she wearing? That tight tank top and shorts didn't leave much to the imagination. He felt himself harden again as he imagined himself peeling them off her sweaty body.

How long would she be running for? She looked like she had been at it for quite some time. That certainly explained her toned body. He hadn't seen that nice surprise coming. Only female Quidditch players looked like she did. He licked his lips at the thought of feeling her again.

He easily matched her pace and kept a good distance jogging behind her. Should he go after her now? Or wait until she was done with her run? He was afraid he'd lose track of her if he didn't follow. After fifteen minutes, he noticed a pile of clothing off to the side and stopped. It was hers. She'd finish here at some point.

He looked around. The Quidditch pitch was pretty close. She'd have to cross it to get back to the castle. He could sit atop the stands and keep a lookout for her without being seen. Maybe he could do some exercises on the stands while waiting. Who knew how long she would run for?

He jogged back up to the locker room to change into his shorts.

oooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooooooo

Hermione's body burned all over. She had just finished the last of her strengthening exercises on the Quidditch pitch. She wouldn't be able to move tomorrow since she'd be so sore. She was sure of that. This was definitely a good idea. She knew that after eating, she'd have no trouble sleeping until five o'clock. She bent over with her hands on her knees, her head down, and breathed in and out slowly.

She was completely spent. She had never pushed herself so hard. And she would never do so again! Aside from the pain in her knees, she had shin splints. Looking over at the Quidditch locker room, she remembered that there were plenty of salves and potions for the aches and pains associated with strenuous exercise. No one would be there any time soon. The practices usually started later in the afternoon, not for another couple of hours. Maybe she should just get showered and changed there.

She bent over to pick up her clothes, groaned at the pain, and started to walk up to the girls' locker room. Merlin, she was limping! Never, ever would she do this again! It was too much!

She walked inside and went directly to the medicine cabinet. After looking over the various cleaning supplies, mops, brooms, buckets, salts, salves, and potions, she brought out salves for muscle and joint pain. Then, she plopped herself down on the floor in the doorway of the cabinet. She rubbed the mint smelling muscle salve all over her body and the more foul smelling joint salve over her knees.

Within minutes, she could feel the pain disappearing. She sighed in contentment, leaned back against the wall, and closed her eyes. Just a few more minutes and she could wash it all off in a hot shower.

oooooooooooooooo

oooooooooooooooooo

Draco was outside, circling the girls' locker room. There were two exits. He didn't want her to notice someone coming in and run out the other side. He could cast a Silencing Charm to mask the noise, but opening the door was usually accompanied with a rush of air from the outside. He wasn't sure how he could mask that effectively. And that was assuming that she wasn't in a position where she could see the door opening. He didn't know where she was in the locker room.

Suddenly, he heard a rush of water as the shower was turned on. He smiled in victory. All of his problems were solved, _and_ he'd get to see her in the shower. Draco became aroused at the thought. He jogged to the other entrance that was furthest from the showers, and cast a Disillusionment Charm and a Silencing Charm on himself before creeping inside.

He slowly made his way around the rows of lockers and benches, turning the last row to see a very wet and very naked Hermione Granger soaping herself. He was far enough away, and there was enough steam and scents from the soaps that she was using that she wouldn't be able to smell him. He was fairly sure of that.

He was as hard as a rock.

What the hell, she couldn't hear him, she couldn't see him, and he was certain he'd be ready to go in another five minutes, especially with her naked in front of him. He put his arm on the edge of the locker, leaned his head on his forearm, and stared at her showering. She was completely oblivious to his presence. He reached down into his shorts and slowly stroked himself, squeezing his head as some pre-cum came out.

Her eyes were closed. She was shampooing her hair. The water and suds were cascading down from her head, streaming down her body. After finishing with her hair, she ran soapy hands over her legs, her breasts, and between her legs, rinsing out the nest of curls there.

Draco leaned forward, balancing his weight on the locker and tensed as his orgasm slowly built up and released. He held back a moan and shuddered as he pumped the last of his seed out. After tucking himself back in with a grunt of satisfaction, he used a _Scourgify_ on himself and Summoned her wand.

Hermione shut off the faucet and toweled herself off. The pain was gone, but she was still exhausted. What a day! What a workout! She walked back to where her things were and proceeded to comb her hair out in front of the mirror. Ginny was right; life with straight hair was so much easier. After conditioning her hair, she had hardly any tangles at all. She parted her hair down the middle and turned for her wand to give her hair a quick air dry.

_That's strange_, she thought, furrowing her brows. She could have sworn that she had put her wand on top of her clothes. Was it in her bag? She started rifling through her bag when she smelled a strong scent full of sweat and masculinity. Desire shot through her.

He was here.

He took her wand.

_Shit!_

She tensed.

_Concentrate!_ she told herself. _He doesn't know that you know._

She kept her towel wrapped around her and pretended to check her class notes about something. She rifled through parchments while her mind raced furiously.

He would be in here with a Disillusionment Charm. The perv had watched her shower, a thought which only served to excite her. She had to pinpoint the tell-tale blurriness of the charm without letting him know that she had noticed.

Could she grab her clothes and run? Without her wand? No, he'd stop her easily. She didn't have a chance without it. The only thing she could do was pinpoint his location, take him by surprise, get her wand back, throw a Stunner at the bastard, and hope that several rounds of masturbation would take care of her desire.

Easier said than done.

She let out a breath of air.

_Think! Think! Think!_

How much time did she have before he'll accost her? Then, she got an idea.

Giving a yell and faking some more pain in her leg, she limped over to the medicine cabinet. She took out a few salves to keep up appearances and salts which could be added to water. Next, she took what she really wanted, the bucket. Still wrapped in a towel, she pretended to read the instructions to the healing salts while filling the bucket with – she smiled – freezing cold water.

And she listened.

And she smelled.

He was close. How close?

She pretended to check her appearance in the mirror while scanning the reflection for blurry areas. She thought she could see a blurry blob roughly three meters away, moving slowly towards her. Yes, it was definitely him.

Just a little bit more… just a little bit more… She slowly breathed in. He must have been sweating! Merlin! He smelled good.

She turned off the faucet and gave another groan of imagined pain, as she hoisted the bucket out of the sink. Then, she looked directly at the blur and hurled the freezing water at it.

"Gaaaaaaah!" Draco yelled, reappearing sopping wet as the Disillusionment Charm faded. Hermione sucked in a breath. He was only wearing his training shorts! Stupid wet six pack!

Seeing her wand sticking out of his pocket brought her back to her senses. Hoping the element of surprise would even out the disadvantage that she had in size, she plowed into him shoulder first, reaching for her wand.

"Ooof!" she grunted, as her shoulder met solid muscle.

He didn't budge. Was she really that small?

She should have gone for the family jewels instead. She just couldn't make herself inflict that much pain on him after last night. Too late now!

She struggled to get her wand out of his pocket when his cold muscled arm wrapped around her torso, pinning her arms to her sides. His other hand clamped down on her wrist before she could even get a grip on her wand.

He forcefully extracted her hand from his pocket.

"That's the wrong wand to be fondling, Granger."

She flushed and struggled as he kept her pinned to his body with one arm. She tried to escape from his grip but calmed down after realizing that overzealous thrashing would end her up with her towel on the floor. She'd be completely naked and pressed up against him. She started to get wet from the touch of his bare arms and chest against her and cursed him for having this effect on her.

"Language, Granger," he chided her; then he lowered his voice. "I haven't even started with you yet."

She glared up at him. Seeing one last chance for freedom, she leaned over, bit his forearm, and kicked him hard in the shin with her heel.

"Ouch! Bugger!"

His hold on her slackened, but just as she struggled free to grab her wand, she heard what would be her undoing.

"_Incarcerous_!"

Ropes tied her hands behind her back and wound around her ankles. Cursing him, she hopped about ridiculously for a bit, trying to extract herself. Draco watched her amused while the water dripped off of his body. Finally, she fell into a seated position on the bench. Her chest heaved from the exertion and her breasts were forced outwards from having her hands tied behind her.

Draco watched Hermione seethe with mutinous anger, glaring at him with both rage and lust in her hazel eyes. He leered at her towel-clad body with obvious desire.

"Just you wait, you fucking git," she spat at him. "You are going to get punished horribly and I am NOT going to feel bad for _anything_ that I do to you. You fucking deserve it."

"You already had your fun with me," he smirked at her. "Now I get to punish you."

With a swish of his wand, a table at the far end of the locker room flew through the air and skidded to halt in front of the full-length mirror next to the sinks. She eyed him warily. What was he doing? He walked over to the table and Transfigured the hard top with sharp corners to a material that was softer and more yielding. He turned around and smirked at her.

"It'll make you more comfortable."

She shook her head. "No! Absolutely not! If you think you can—"

"_Accio_ Granger!"

Her body shot up from the bench and she flew bodily towards him. He caught her in one arm, spun her around, and faced her towards the mirror. Hermione looked at herself, held captive by Malfoy, and gave him a murderous glare.

"I don't think I can." He tore off her towel in one motion, eyed her exposed body, and spoke directly to her ear. "I know I can."

She ground her teeth as his hot breath caused the hair on her neck to stand on end. She tried to contort her body in an attempt to cover herself up but was unable to. He smirked and pulled back on her arms, making her breasts jut out even more. He licked his lips.

_Prick!_

"But first, some payback for that stunt you pulled with the water. I have to say, Granger, that was pretty impressive."

He let go of her and backed up.

Her eyes widened and he grinned at her. "_Aguamenti Frio!_"

She shrieked as a freezing cold stream of water rained down on her head and naked body from his wand.

She sputtered as the stream subsided. "Fucking bastard!"

Goosebumps spread all over her skin and her nipples painfully hardened.

He grabbed her bound arms and pulled her back flush against his chest. She could feel his erection through his wet shorts against her bare bottom.

She snarled at him in the mirror.

"What wicked things do you think I'm going to do to you next?" He rocked his pelvis back and forth, so that the length of him went up and down her buttocks.

She tried but couldn't stop the involuntary moan from leaving her lips.

He grinned down at her reflection.

"Hmm? We've got to even the score from yesterday."

"Isn't what you've done enough? Can't you just—"

He placed the palm of his hand between her shoulder blades and forcefully guided her reluctant body to lie down on the table. Her arse was now in the air, vulnerably exposed.

He gave her a feral smile in the mirror as she looked up from her prone position.

_God!_ He was going to take her there? He wouldn't do that, would he? Fuck! She had to get herself out of this.

She looked up at him pleadingly. "Draco, please, can't we just," she gulped, "talk about this?"

He started laughing. Hard. His laughter echoed in the locker room and he bent over and started choking.

_I hope he chokes to death!_ she thought as she tried to raise herself.

It was difficult to do so with stomach muscles alone after having done so many sit-ups earlier. Straining to get herself into a less vulnerable standing position, she grunted. Just as soon as she was upright, Draco wiped his eyes, stopped laughing and pushed her down more forcefully this time.

"Ooomph!"

"Down, Mudblood," he said, still chuckling.

She growled at him. Oh, he was going to pay for this. He didn't move his hand from her back.

She couldn't get up. She was at his complete mercy. She had absolutely no control. She hated it. She hated him.

And yet, she loved it. And he knew it. She was hot, sopping wet and itching to be filled.

Draco's grey eyes pierced her hazel ones in the mirror. He released the bonds on her legs and forcefully spread them apart. She tried to clamp them back together but wasn't strong enough. Before she could do anything with the freedom of her legs, he muttered a Sticking Spell between her feet and the floor.

He held her down with one palm on her upper back and began to stroke the skin of her butt with his other.

She shut her eyes.

_Oh God… Oh God…._

"Open your eyes, Granger."

She kept them shut tight.

SMACK!

"Aaah!" Her eyes popped open and her body lurched forward from the force of his blow. Her arse stung, but, oh, it felt good!

"Look at me," he commanded with a low voice.

She looked up at him through the mirror. His eyes were so intently locked on hers as he continued to caress her buttocks with one of his hands, sending shivers through her body. Draco pushed down on her back with his hand and pressed himself against her.

She looked up at him with abject fear. He wouldn't bugger her there, would he? He smirked down at her, looking positively evil.

_Merlin!_

"No, Draco! Please don't!"

Slowly but deliberately, Draco put his finger in his mouth with his other hand. Her lips parted, as she watched him suck on his finger. He brought his finger down to her crack and slowly, ever so slowly, followed the line down to her hole.

Her eyes widened. "What are… What are you doing?"

The trail of wetness left by his finger evaporated and she shuddered as he got closer… and closer….

He gave her a wicked smile. "It's your punishment, Granger. But don't worry, you'll like it."

"No, I—"

"Look at me!" He stared into her eyes intently, as his finger began to circle her anus and then bit by bit, probe her entrance. He inserted his finger inside her hole.

She gasped. It felt foreign. She felt dirty. She felt violated. Violated by his finger. Violated by his eyes that wouldn't stop watching her. Violated by having to witness herself being humiliated by him by watching in the mirror. She could feel even more moisture dripping out of her. And he wouldn't stop staring at her with that penetrating gaze of his.

As if reading her thoughts, he raised his eyebrows. "What happened? Does the Mudblood like it?"

She sucked in a breath as he inserted his finger a bit further and pulled it out. "Stop it, Draco."

He continued to tease her. "Does it make you feel like a whore?" He leaned in towards her ear. "A Mudblood whore?"

"Stop it! Oh, Merlin…" she groaned, squirming as he slowly inserted and extracted his finger. While squirming, she realized that she could feel friction between her clit and the transfigured table as well. A wave of pleasure shot through her from the combination. She didn't want to feel pleasure from what he was doing to her, but she couldn't help it. She felt even more ashamed and blushed.

"You like being called a Mudblood whore, don't you? You're even naughtier than I thought," he taunted her.

"Stop…" she moaned. Although, by now it was obvious that anything she said would just be a plea for more. His penetration of her anus continued at the same, slow, tortuous pace and her arousal grew and grew with each slick movement, with each rub of her clit on the table.

"Say that you're a Mudblood whore. Say that you're a dirty whore."

"Fuck. You."

THWACK!

"Aaah!" she yelped as her body lurched forward again. Draco watched her arse redden and then brought his eyes back to hers.

"Mudblood whore!"

"No!"

SMACK!

THWACK!

SMACK!

Her body rocked back and forth and her buttocks stung. All the while his finger kept a steady pace and was penetrating her fully, going all the way up her passageway.

"Fuck! Ugh! Stop it! Aaah!"

"Dirty whore!"

SMACK!

Slide in; slide out.

THWACK!

Slide in; slide out.

"Aaaah! Stop!" she moaned.

Her cheeks were in pain.

Draco mercilessly spanked her buttocks, right and left, top and bottom. At the same time, he inserted his finger all the way in and out of her hole. Hermione yelped and cried out until she felt a sudden warmth spread from her core and out through her body. Before she realized what had happened, she was yelling his name and crying for more.

"Draco! Don't stop! Don't stop! Ughhhhh!"

He sped up the frequency of his violations of her anus and the spanking.  
TWHACK! THWACK! THWACK!

Slide in; slide out.

She bucked and squirmed as she came violently.

She wailed uncontrollably, as the ecstasy of her orgasm overtook her. Her body convulsed and rocked back and forth from his continued beatings. He spanked her as the last of her orgasm subsided. As her contractions faded off, his beatings became less frequent, and less forceful, until they too slowly faded to a stop and simple caress.

Hermione was spent. Her breathing slowed down bit by bit. Her lips were parted. She didn't know if she could move. Her arse hurt like hell. Even so, it was incredible. He was incredible.

She eyed Draco warily behind her but not through the mirror. He was leaning over her, nearly panting himself. He had one palm on her arse and another on the table. His grey eyes were dark with desire. She hadn't realized that she had shut her eyes during her orgasm. He was unabashedly watching her. Just watching her. She was too spent to feel embarrassed under his scrutiny.

Unable to think, she said the first thing that came to her mind. "How did you know?" She had never felt so spent, so sated, so absolutely fantastic in her life.

He cracked a knowing half-smile. The cocky arse. "Want more?"

She smiled back at him. "Maybe."

He gave her that evil smile again. "Say that you're my Mudblood whore."

Her defenses immediately came back up. "No fucking way, Malfoy! There is no way that I'm—"

Draco pulled her up by the shoulders so that her back was flush against his chest. He pulled back on her tied hands with one hand, jutting her chest outward, and splayed the other hand across her throat, turning her head back to his.

"Shut up," he growled while lowering his face to hers and invading her mouth with his tongue.

The warmth of his body on her back thrilled her. His hand on her throat with his fingers splayed to her cheek forced her head to turn. His tongue was inside her mouth, massaging her tongue, and she was instantly filled with desire again. Her heart raced. The two of them were slippery, skin on skin, hot and sweaty. The feel of him against her sent jolts of desire through her body and down between her legs.

As they continued to kiss, she felt his hand lower from her throat down to her breasts. She sighed and gasped into his mouth, as his fingers circled her nipples. And then came the exquisite pain like before. He pinched her there, slowly, and then to released her. And then he would pinch and twist, back and forth. She moaned into his mouth and pushed her breasts out for him to pinch her more.

His other hand released her bound hands and came up to grip her hair. He pulled her mouth away from his and they gasped for air. He went right back down and attacked her exposed throat, kissing, sucking, biting, licking. She moaned and whimpered with him pulling painfully on her hair, twisting and pulling on her nipples, biting and sucking on her neck. Not letting her move her head. Between the pinching and twisting of her nipples, and the abuse from his mouth to her neck, she started to work towards her release again by rubbing her clit against the soft material of the transfigured table.

Draco wouldn't let her this time. He unstuck her feet and lifted her into a kneeling position on the table with her knees spread wide apart. She tried to squirm and rub her clit but could only hit air from that angle. With her hands constrained behind her, she couldn't even touch herself.

He stared at her in the mirror from behind the shoulder that he was nipping and smirked again, taking in her naked, sweaty body, breasts pushed out, legs spread, pussy dripping… for him.

She whimpered. "Draco, I'll hurt you again if you make me wait too long."

"Then you'll just have to start begging sooner… Mudblood whore," he said, as his eyes glinted at hers, challenging her to respond. He knew as well as she did that calling her dirty names turned her on.

The hand holding her hair lowered to her stomach and pressed her back into him so that she was balanced on the edge of the table. At this angle, she had to rely on him to keep her propped up so she wouldn't fall.

"Say it, Granger," he whispered huskily. "Say you're my whore."

He twisted her nipples painfully. She moaned and squirmed. She felt her precarious position on the table, her weight supported by him, and was unable to shift her position.

She bit her lip and shook her head. She couldn't do it. Her pride wouldn't let her.

She felt him shake off his shorts and press his naked length against her backside. He brought her even more over the edge of the table, so that her rear had no support at all. She would fall! And then she felt him lower himself, probing her entrance from underneath with his member. He smirked at her in the mirror.

"Is this what you want now?"

She groaned in frustration. "Gods, yes! Come on, Malfoy!"

"Only whores need to be filled with cock. Do you need to be filled with my cock?"

She growled at him and he smirked. "Fuck you! Yes, I need your cock!"

He continued to tease her entrance, pushing in ever so slightly and exiting before anything more than his head entered.

"Tell me you're my whore."

"Go to hell, Malfoy! Just do it! You want it as bad as I do!"

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"

He moved his hand from her nipples down to her clitoris and began to circle it slowly, as he had done in the library last night. She gasped and threw her head back.

"Merlin! Do it already! Make me come!"

"Tell me," he tauntingly whispered in her ear, continuing to probe her entrance and circle her clit.

"Draco, please!"

"Tell me!" he commanded, his hot breath coated her ear and throat.

"No!" she sobbed. God _damn_ him! His member pushed in slightly more and his finger continued to circle.

"Tell me that you're my Mudblood whore!" he growled at her.

"No!"

He bit into her shoulder, bruising her.

"Aaaaah!"

"Say it!" he hissed, as he glared at her from over her shoulder in the mirror.

She gasped and bucked as his finger swiped her clit.

"No!" she yelled.

"Tell me!" he said, biting her again.

"Aaaaah!"

She turned to look directly into his grey eyes over her shoulder, pleading. Didn't he understand? She couldn't give in like this. She couldn't! Tears were already forming from frustration and want. She didn't want to hurt him like before, but she didn't want to give in either.

"Tell me that you're my bitch," she whispered to him.

He stared at her, taken aback. Then slowly, a wide grin slowly spread across his face.

"I'm your bitch."

Her lips parted, half in shock, and then she smiled and said, "I'm your Mudblood whore."

And with that, he thrust into her and they gasped at the warmth, at the closeness, and at the pleasure of completely losing control to each other. Neither one of them noticed when Hermione's hands had become unbound. She clutched at his neck from behind, as he pounded into her from underneath, rubbing her clit, massaging her breasts, pinching her nipples. His pelvis rocked into her, lifting her body with each thrust.

They devoured each other's mouths, as each thrust of his raised her into the air and their naked, sweaty bodies slipped and writhed and clutched until the both of them felt their pleasure come to a peak.

She reached above and behind her, grabbing onto his neck and shoulders, and his hair. He painfully gripped her breast and hip. Both held on for dear life, as Hermione wailed and Draco roared in response to the orgasm that rippled through their bodies. Their lips parted and they stared into each other's eyes in the mirror. Draco felt Hermione contract around him, squeezing every last drop of seed that he pumped into her.

He spasmed, she shuddered, and they clutched onto each others' bodies, as vibrations continued to rock through them. Slowly, slowly, they floated down from their heights, amazed after having watched one another come so hard. Smiling and sated, Draco wrapped his arms around her and just held her, looking at her in the mirror. She lowered her arms from around his neck and circled his arms. They remained unmoving for several minutes while the only sounds in the locker room came from their breathing.

He turned her around so that she was facing him and kissed her forehead.

Startled, she looked up and gave him a small smile. This post-coital Draco Malfoy was taking her by surprise. The dynamic had just changed between them, and neither one of them had a problem with it.

"Can I have my wand?" she asked.

He smiled, bent over, pulled it out of his forgotten shorts on the floor, and gently placed it in her hand.

She performed the Contraceptive Charm on herself.

She sighed, closed her eyes for a minute, opened them, and looked up at him. He brushed his thumb over her mouth. The two continued to stare into each other's eyes. He gave her a half-smile.

"It's a Prefect," she blurted out, breaking their trance.

"I… er… Pardon?"

Hermione explained how she had smelled lemons coming from the Prefect's bathroom yesterday.

"But what if some of the Prefects gave out the password? You know what the bathroom is used for." He wiggled his eyebrows at her. "We could go there next."

Hermione was ready for that one. "I already thought of a solution. How to narrow the suspect list down _and_ determine whether or not the password has been compromised."

Draco looked at her expectantly.

"I'll hold a Prefect meeting. There's been a lot of snogging in the bathroom. I'll explain that the bathroom is to be used by Prefects only, and only for bathing purposes. That will be the pretense. Then I'll explain that the password is not to be given out to anyone else, and demand that everyone tell me if they have given out the password, and to whom," Hermione said, waving her hands excitedly.

Draco crossed his arms, enjoying finding the holes in her logic. "But that's simple. Nobody is going to admit to giving the password out."

"But wait! I'll say in the meeting that it was used for illicit and other activities. I'll try and make it obvious that I know that the potion was brewed there; maybe I'll hint about the lemony scent. So if the potion brewer knows that I'm onto him, or her, they'll say that they gave the password out so that there will be more suspects and reduce the suspicion on them. I bet that no one else will want to admit to giving the password out. "

"But then you won't know because any number of people could have the password," he countered.

"Aah," said Hermione. "But they'll have to name names. That's like admitting that you were snogging with someone there. Most of the Prefects have boyfriends or girlfriends. Saying you gave the password to someone who isn't your significant other means you admit to cheating. Naming your significant other makes them a suspect. I wonder if they'd be willing to do that."

"But what if people are honest and _do_ give you the names of those who have the password?"

"Well, then, we have a solid suspect list, just a little bit larger than what we began with. But if nobody fesses up, we have eight suspects."

"But what if the perpetrator isn't a Prefect and nobody fesses up to giving out the password?"

Hermione chewed on her lip. "Oh, damn."

Draco smiled, satisfied with poking a hole in her plan. "Well, we have to start with something." He didn't want to discourage her completely, that might hamper his chances of fucking her again. "Call the meeting. Maybe it will work. I'm curious. Who had the bollocks to do this?"

Hermione sniffed. Damn him and his smell.

"Do I stink?" Draco asked.

"Lots," she answered, not wanting to admit that him in his sweaty masculine glory, and just after sex, was making her hornier by the minute.

"You're pretty ripe yourself."

Hermione feigned indignation.

Draco announced, "I'm taking a shower; you're welcome to join me."

"No, thanks. I'll wait."

He shook his head.

Stubborn.

He ran a finger from her cheek down to her neck, between her breasts, circling her nipple, down to her belly button, and even lower, tickling the area around her curls. Her breath hitched. Before he could reach her folds, he removed his hand and sauntered off towards the showers, whistling.

_Merlin's balls!_ she thought.

"You can go so soon again?" she asked, surprised, and followed him in.

"I _am_ a seventeen year old male," he answered cockily. "I can go a third time."

She looked up.

"Wait, what do you mean a _third_ time?"

oooooooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooooooooo

The two exited the locker room with smiles on their faces in the afterglow. They had discovered each other, and things had changed. As they walked back to the castle, their hands occasionally brushed, like a couple on a first date who didn't know if one liked the other.

Her eyes widened suddenly. "You knew that I would like being dominated because you liked _me_ controlling _you_."

He flashed a grin at her.

"So, it wasn't just about getting one-up on me," she exclaimed. "I thought it was about revenge from when I… er…."

"Don't kid yourself, Granger. I may enjoy getting smacked around by you, but I still have my pride. You can't always be the dominant one."

"You're implying that we'll do this again after I get the antidote."

"Don't tell me that you don't want to." He closed in on her and his voice lowered. "Do you need me to make you beg again?"

She sucked in a breath, as her heart raced.

He smirked.

**Chapter End Notes:**

Next chapter, we finally find out who did it!  
Unfortunately, it will be a bit longer wait than expected, maybe a month even, hopefully sooner. My beta gave me a good critique which requires rewriting it. But it'll be much better than how it was originally written!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – Wednesday evening**

Hermione slept for the rest of the day, completely oblivious to those entering and exiting the dorms. She was exhausted from all of the physical activity. And there had been a LOT of physical activity. Her wand alarm went off at five o'clock in the afternoon, and she raced down to the hospital wing.

"Madam Pomfrey!" she called out impatiently. "Madam Pomfrey!"

"Yes, yes, Miss Granger. I have your antidote. Everything is ready." Madam Pomfrey came around the corner holding a vial. "Now just take—"

Hermione grabbed the vial, uncorked it, and chugged down the contents. She wiped her mouth off on her sleeve afterwards.

Madam Pomfrey looked at her with amusement.

"Sorry, Madam Pomfrey, but it's been a rough two days."

"I'm sure it has," she said with a knowing smile. "As I was about to say, the effects will be immediate and you should have no further issues requiring…relief."

The vial dropped from Hermione's hand and shattered on the floor. She ran out of the room.

_Ugh! _What was with Madam Pomfrey and masturbation?

Madam Pomfrey chuckled to herself and went back to attending her sick patients after repairing the vial.

ooooooooooooooo

oooooooooooooooooooo

Hermione entered the Great Hall and, with a flip of her hair, headed over to the Gryffindor table, winking at Draco along the way. He flashed her a quick smile, much to Pansy's chagrin. She sat down next to her friends and began to spoon food on her plate, rivaling Ron's stockpile. After everything that happened today, she was ravenous.

Harry and Ron looked over at her warily.

"Uh…" Harry, the king of eloquence in uncomfortable situations, began.

"Everything's taken care of. I'm back to normal," she assured him while heaping another spoonful on her plate.

Ron and Harry let out loud sighs of relief.

Hermione began to shovel food into her mouth in a way that was very uncharacteristic of her. Ginny, Lavender, and Harry stared. Ron didn't notice, as he was busy shoveling food into his mouth at the same pace.

Hermione looked up and asked with a mouth full of food, "What?" She swallowed. "I did a lot of running today."

They shrugged and went back to eating.

"So," Harry began. "I still think we should consider Zabini, Parkinson, and maybe Nott, even though Malfoy says they wouldn't do it. You never know what's going on between the Slytherins. Especially after that fight this morning."

Hermione looked over at Draco. Feeling her eyes on him, he glanced up, made a hole with his left hand, and inserted his right index finger through it. She smirked at him and turned back to Harry.

"You know what?" Hermione said. "Let's talk about this tomorrow. While I do want to find out who did it – because I don't want to be the target of some joke again – I just don't feel like discussing it now. I want to enjoy an evening of feeling like myself again. And I have to catch up on my classes. I need to get notes from the Ravenclaws."

She spooned the rest of her food in her mouth and decided that she actually did want to talk about it.

"You know," she said, pointing her spoon at Harry, "I'm not sure if getting notes from the Ravenclaws is a good idea now. My theory is that one of the Ravenclaw Prefects did it out of academic jealousy."

In spite of herself, she was eager to tell her friends about her latest theory. She was confident that Ginny wasn't behind the potion even though she could have gotten the password from either Ron or Lavender. She explained her Prefect theory.

Ron glanced over at the Slytherin table. "That certainly narrows it down. Malfoy's a Prefect."

Hermione continued, "I can't think of any other reason that someone would target me. The Ravenclaws are smart enough to pull it off, and Anthony and Padma were there at the table that morning. My obvious enemies are the Slytherins, Pansy in particular, but I'm not convinced that it's her. She wasn't at our table anyway. And I can't think of why Blaise would pull this stunt - we have to work together as Heads."

She chewed her food, pondering for a minute.

Ron glared at Malfoy. "I still say he needs another beating."

Lavender sighed. "Oh, for Merlin's sake, can't you just leave it alone?" She shoved her tray away, got up and walked out, leaving her food half eaten.

Ron looked up with his fork still half out of his mouth. "What? What did I do?"

Ginny sighed and went up to go after her, but Hermione stopped her. "I'll do it, things are better between us. I'll go see if I can help."

She ran out to catch up with Lavender.

oooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooooooooo

"Lavender!" Hermione called out to her as she walked to Gryffindor Tower. "Hey, wait up!" She tried jogging to catch up, but the pain in her knees came back to her. "Lavender, hold on!"

Lavender didn't stop, and continued on up and through the portrait. Hermione walked as fast as her pained legs would carry her. She entered the portrait hole to see Lavender quietly crying on the plush chair in the corner of the Gryffindor common room.

Hermione walked over to her. If it was Ginny, she would have hugged her right away. It was still too awkward between the two of them for hugs. Well, she had to try, right?

She put a tentative arm around Lavender's heaving shoulders.

"Hey! Hey!" she said in a soothing voice. "I know Ron's a git. Do you know how many times I've cried over the stupid things to come out of his mouth?" Lavender didn't answer, so Hermione continued, "He can be such an idiot some—"

"It's not him!" Lavender cut her off.

"Pardon?" asked Hermione, taken aback.

"It's not him! He's a perfectly good boyfriend. He loves me, and I love him." She sobbed into her hands some more. "But he still loves you..."

Hermione opened her mouth to protest.

"Don't bother. I know that it's only a friendship love, maybe a little bit more considering your history," she sniffed, " and he _did_ want you two to be something more for a long period of time." She wiped her nose. "You're his friend. Can I really fault him for wanting to avenge you?" Her voice softened. "It's admirable, really, the passion he shows."

"But –"

Lavender threw her hands in the air. "Oh, who am I kidding? If you were to tell him that you've changed your mind, he'd dump me in a heartbeat and go running to you."

"That's not true!"

Lavender suddenly turned around towards Hermione in anger.

"Isn't it? You're so much better than I am! You're smarter, and he takes you more seriously. You've got ambitions. You don't study Divination because that's just complete and utter nonsense—" she said, as she glared at Hermione. "It doesn't matter that the Ministry has tens of thousands of prophecies in their vault! And those that do study it, like me, are… what?" Lavender snapped, cutting off another one of Hermione's protests.

Hermione opened her mouth again. She was suddenly ashamed of how she had been treating Lavender since she had become a "regular" in their group. But she couldn't find the words to express it.

"You're not just some airhead that he's on the rebound with. And I hate it!" she cried before she turned back to sobbing.

Hermione had never felt so low in her life. She had been absolutely awful to Lavender. She didn't realize how painful the way she had treated her had been, especially with Lavender's insecurity about Ron. She had mistakenly assumed that Lavender hadn't noticed her eye rolls and off-hand comments. Apparently, she was more observant than Hermione originally thought.

"Lavender, I am _so_ sorry that I've made you feel badly. Nobody else felt that way about you, you know? Everyone told me that I was being too harsh on you, and they were right. And recently, I've changed my mind about you. I think you're really good for Ron. We've all noticed changes in him, me included. He's happier than he's ever been before, more considerate, and he's completely nutters over you. And yes, I admit it. I didn't like you two together. But all of those changes in him are because of you."

Lavender looked at her in contemplation, then her pretty face scrunched up in anger again, and she stood up, towering over Hermione. "Oh, stuff it, you sanctimonious bitch!" she spat at her.

Hermione took a step back, warily.

"What you're really saying is that airheads make him happy!"

Hermione denied this vehemently, even though that was exactly what she had been thinking. "That's not what I'm saying at all!"

"Oh, no? You wouldn't even take my notes from the classes you weren't paying attention to. I'm not smart enough to copy notes from?"

"Come on, Lavender! The Ravenclaws are the top—"

"Forget the notes! I'm not smart enough for you to waste time being civil to?"

"You weren't exactly—"

Lavender's voice raised an octave as she became more hysterical. "I'm not smart enough to be in your group? I'm not smart enough to be with Ron?"

"Lavender! That's not—"

"I'm not smart enough to have slipped you the _Lustfarae?_"

Hermione thought she heard wrong. "What?"

"I couldn't possibly have pulled that off alone now, could I? It had to be a Ravenclaw! Or a Slytherin!" Lavender cried some more.

"You—" Hermione was still trying to process the information. Her surprise was quickly turning into anger. "You, WHAT? You—" she sputtered.

Lavender smiled meanly at her, wiping away a few of her tears. "I put the _Lustfarae_ in the salt shaker. That's why I was nice to you that morning, so that we would sit together. Everyone was distracted by Ron when I was getting him off and didn't notice. You were looking in the opposite direction. Then I vanished it after you used it so that there wouldn't be more than one person affected."

Hermione ground her teeth. "I can't _believe_ you would—"

Her eyes blazed at Hermione's. "And you never even considered me a suspect! I was too stupid to be capable of something like that, wasn't I? You just said so not five minutes ago!"

"That's not true!" Hermione shouted back, her anger returning in full force. "I didn't consider you because I trusted you! Like I trusted Ron!"

"You _trusted_ me?" Lavender yelled incredulously. "Now you're just lying!"

"I'm not—"

"Merlin, Hermione! Didn't you notice something was off that morning? After the way you've treated me for the past half year, why would I have been nice to _you_ all of a sudden? You don't deserve it!"

Hermione raised her voice. "You never liked me to begin with!"

Lavender yelled back, countering her. "We were never close before! Once I joined your group, you never gave me a chance! You made me feel unwanted from day one! Everyone else was nice to me except _you_!"

"Well, I was right to be! You were _way_ out of line with that stunt. Are you completely _daft_?" Hermione screamed at her, purposely insulting her intelligence.

Lavender dug her nails into her palms.

"And after that day in Potions?" Hermione, remembering her embarrassment, started shaking with anger. She could literally feel the steam blowing out of her ears as she relived having half the seventh years see her exposed and rutting herself on Draco, while Ron and Harry lay tied up on the ground.

"I could have hurt someone!" she continued screaming, absolutely furious. "Did you even _think_ about the consequences of what you did? Or would that hurt your head too much?"

Lavender snarled.

Hermione narrowed her eyes and closed the distance between them. "Ron really is too good for you!" she spat at her.

Lavender smirked down at Hermione through her tears. "Well, maybe I'm not so smart. I thought I took Crabbe's quill that day."

Hermione scoffed, "You couldn't even do that right-" Her eyes widened as she understood the implications of Lavender's admission and her last fuse blew.

"CRABBE?" she shrieked as she lunged at Lavender.

Lavender squeaked in surprise. Not expecting the assault, she was thrown bodily to the ground as Hermione clawed at her.

"What the – ? Get the bloody hell off of me you crazy bint!" Lavender howled as Hermione tried to get her in a headlock.

"Oh, just you wait! You've got a lot more coming your way! Fucking bitch!" Hermione grunted with the effort. "—can't believe you – AAAH!"

Lavender pulled on her hair to pry her off and Hermione wailed at the pain. Hermione pinched Lavender's underarm and she screamed, immediately letting go of her hair.

The two struggled on the ground amidst shrieks and pants for breath. Despite her smaller size, Hermione managed to turn Lavender around face down on the ground and twist her right arm behind her back.

"Do you know how horrible it was that day?" Hermione shrieked at her and twisted her arm harder.

"Aaah!" Lavender struggled to extract her wand with her left hand while Hermione continued to yell at her.

"I could have seriously hurt someone! I attacked Ron and Harry! And what if someone else used the salt besides me? What if you didn't vanish the salt in time when you were playing your little footsie game?"

Hermione pressed her knee into the small of Lavender's back.

"Oomph!" Lavender strained. She almost had her wand.

Hermione continued to taunt her. "Why don't you get one of the Ravenclaws to plot your revenge schemes for you next time? At least they wouldn't have –"

She never got to finish her sentence.

"_Petrificus Totalus!_"

Hermione's body froze. _Damn!_ She was too cocky, too busy taunting and not paying attention. That was the second time she had underestimated Lavender.

Lavender breathed a sigh of relief and extracted herself from Hermione's hold. She tilted Hermione back gently until her frozen form was lying on the floor, legs splayed from having straddled Lavender. Under any other circumstances, both girls would have found her position extremely funny.

_How nice_, Hermione thought sarcastically as her head gently touched the floor, _she doesn't want to do me any_ physical _harm_.

Lavender opened her mouth as if to start a fresh tirade. She then changed her mind and closed her mouth. Her shoulders sank in defeat. She pressed her palms into her eyes, but couldn't stop the tears from flowing again.

"Do you know what it's like..." she started in a quivering voice, but a loud sob cut her off. She tried again. "Do you know what it's like to be somebody's rebound? To be so completely in love, yet never knowing if they really, truly love you back in the same way?"

Hermione stared at the ceiling. From the position that Lavender had laid her in, she didn't have much other choice.

"You've been a shadow over our relationship since the beginning." Her shoulders heaved with sobs. "Last year, he chose you over me. Remember? And you didn't even want him. You changed your mind."

Hermione remembered how uncomfortable her relationship with Ron had been after Voldemort's defeat, when she had come to the realization that she didn't love him the way that he had loved her. He had been crushed.

"And I loved him, even then. And it hurt when he left me for you in sixth year. Do you know what that felt like? To be discarded like leftovers for somebody else?" Fresh tears streamed down her face.

Hermione had to admit that she'd never given much thought to Lavender's feelings last year. The Won-Won's and Lav-Lav's had gotten on everybody's nerves. Harry and Ginny were both relieved when it seemed that Hermione and Ron would finally get together in the end. She was perfectly capable of feeling bad for rejecting Ron, but she had never imagined what Lavender must have felt after Ron rejected her. She had never even considered Lavender. Lavender was simply beneath her notice.

"It really hurt. And I tried to get over him. But then he came to me again, and I knew—" she conjured a tissue and blew her nose in between sobs, "I knew that he only came because you had rejected him. I knew it and I didn't care, I just wanted to be with him. I still loved him, even though he didn't love me."

Hermione felt her anger slowly subside. She really felt sorry for Lavender.

Lavender dropped to the ground and hugged her knees. "Merlin, I must be a masochist to be willing to be with someone, knowing they'd leave me the drop of a hat. Give him any hint that you're still interested and he'll leave me again."

She gulped back her tears. "He loves me now, I know he does. But not like he loves you. He's always loved you. And I..." She bent her head down, pressing her forehead to her knees. "I just hoped that he would grow to love me more with time, but this whole –" she waved her hand in the air, "— thing completely backfired. Watching Ron go ape-shit over Malfoy having his hands on you just..." She gave a resigned sigh. "I'll always be second to you."

Despite herself, Hermione was feeling bad for Lavender. She sounded so full of despair. But she couldn't be right, could she? Was Ron still pining for her? They were good friends. They were friends with a history, yes, but friends and nothing more. She knew that Ron had loved her once; it was obvious from how he had taken her rejection. But did he still love her in that way? They were hardly alone together anymore since the war, which occurred during that summer. He was always with Lavender.

"And you just made it all worse. I know I'm not as smart as you; I know I wasn't as brave as you were in the war. But you didn't have to make it so painfully obvious."

Hermione would have cringed if she could have moved her face muscles. She hadn't truly realized how awful she had been. And coupled with Lavender's insecurities, well, that was like rubbing salt in the wound. A big, gaping wound.

"You treated me like I was insignificant. Not worth your time, not deserving of anybody's friendship in your group. Not deserving of Ron. Well, maybe I don't deserve Ron if I can't make him love me more than you. I don't have what you have. I guess me being me just isn't good enough."

Hermione was in shock. Was it possible that Lavender's self-esteem was that low? She felt horrible. Treating Lavender the way she did was like kicking a wounded opponent when they were down.

Lavender's breathing came in a gasp as she fought back another sob. "Well, if you were hoping that one day I'd just get the hint that I was unwanted and leave, you may just get your wish. Tell McGonagall what I did, tell Snape, tell Ron. I'll admit to it, I don't," she said, wiping away the tears that started streaming down her face again, "I don't fucking care anymore, it hurts too much."

She slowly got up, dragged her feet towards the stairs and climbed up. Hermione heard the door to the seventh year dorms shut and she was able to move her limbs again as Lavender released the spell.

Hermione stretched and stood up. She could hear Lavender's sobbing all the way from the seventh year dorms.

As she listened to Lavender's muffled sobs, she thought about how she had been a complete and utter bitch. She never did give Lavender a chance, and had snubbed her ever since Ron had decided to pursue her. She had completely disregarded her and never gave a thought as to how Lavender must have felt this whole time, what with Lavender trying to be accepted by their group and Hermione's unforgiving stance. All the while, Lavender worried that Hermione would change her mind and Ron would leave her. For the first time, she began to think that she had deserved much worse than being the victim of Lavender's plan.

oooooooooooooooooooo

oooooooooooooooooo

Hermione was sitting on one of the sofas, still deep in thought when everyone started filtering into the common room. Ron plopped down next to her.

"Is she okay?" he asked.

"It's not you, Ron," Hermione said, smirking. "For once."

Ron punched her arm.

"Ow!" she said, rubbing her arm. "That hurt!"

"Wuss."

"I did a lot of arm exercises today. I'm really sore!"

Looking into Ron's eyes, Hermione smiled warmly. She _did_ miss the times they had together now that he was attached to Lavender at the hip.

"She just had a bad day. Go comfort her. She's up in the girls' dorms now, but maybe she'll come back down later."

"Thanks, Hermione. You know," Ron stared at his hands, "it really means a lot to me that you two are getting along now. She'd kill me for telling you this, but I think," he looked up at her, "I think she really looks up to you."

Hermione gulped. She didn't think she could possibly feel any worse.

Ron looked down at his hands again. "She admires you a lot. I don't think you realize how much a friendship between you two would mean to her." A huge grin spread across his face. "And I'm glad that it's finally happening. It means a lot to me as well. I just want to see her happy."

Hermione felt like an arse, but she forced a smile to her face. "Good. Things will be better between us."

He smiled back at her, not breaking the eye contact. It had been a while since the two of them had been so close together since she had given him "the talk." Was Lavender right about his feelings for her?

Hermione swallowed.

"Ron?"

"Yeah?"

"Hypothetical question. If someone had given Lavender the _Lustfarae_ instead of me, what would you have done?"

She could see the wheels turning in his head as he imagined the girl that he loved rubbing herself all over someone else. His eyes darkened and his whole body tensed as a murderous scowl appeared on his face.

"I'd kill the git. And I wouldn't give a shit as to what you, Harry, or even she wanted. He'd have every fucking bone in his body broken. The _only_ reason I'm not going after Malfoy now is because Lav asked me not to."

"Sorry, Ron. I didn't mean to upset you more."

He got up to play wizarding chess with Harry, muttering to himself. Hermione smiled, feeling secure in the fact that he really did love Lavender.

**Chapter End Notes:**

Last chapter will wrap everything up, and will be posted much sooner than this one, it's already written.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – Saturday**

Two days passed since Hermione's confrontation with Lavender. She had repeatedly eaten her meals at off times so as to miss her group, and to give Lavender the space she needed. It was the least that she could do. She told them that she had studies to catch up on and research to do to find out who the perpetrator of the prank was, and nobody questioned her. Technically, she wasn't lying. She was in the library right now, trying to catch up on her studies. She had also been reading about… other things.

As she levitated a book back to its shelf, a warm hand slid around her waist and splayed across her stomach. A nose nuzzled into her neck and she smiled as Draco's familiar scent encased her. Smiling, she brought her hands back to feel his muscular legs and groped his arse. His pelvis twitched forward in response and he chuckled.

"Mmmmm, where have you been hiding?" Draco purred into her ear. "You always run off after class and I never see you at mealtimes. Do you want me to chase you? Because I will." His voice lowered. "But you know there will be no mercy when I catch you."

Hermione turned around with a gleam in her eye.

"Promise?"

Her hands were already fumbling with his belt buckle as he walked her backwards to a corner, casting a Silencing Charm around them. She began to loosen his trousers and pull out his already hard member. She started to stroke him, but he captured her hands before she could pump him too hard and drew them behind her, still walking her backwards until she hit the wall.

"I want to do you first."

She grinned devilishly up at him, like a cat who had just eaten a canary. Holding her hands behind her with one hand, he began to feel his way under her skirt with the other.

He raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking so satisfied about?"

Towering over her, his fingers inched higher up her leg, and her smirk grew.

No knickers!

His eyes widened.

"You," he leaned down to kiss her and ended it with a bite to her lower lip, "are a naughty -" Another kiss. " - naughty, girl."

He peered down at her. "This is a bit convenient. Have you been going without knickers these past few days, hoping that I would find you?"

She blushed in answer. He gave her a feral grin.

"It does get a bit drafty somet-"

His mouth descended onto hers before she could finish her sentence. He released her wrists and tangled his fingers in her hair. She moaned into his mouth as his other hand made its way down to begin stroking her damp folds. She quivered.

Hermione ran her hands through his hair, down his shoulders and over his muscled chest. She lowered her hands to massage his arse and he raised her leg and wrapped it around him for better access. As he lowered himself to the ground, he kissed her neck and then the open V area of her blouse. His one hand cupped her arse and he continued to fondle her core with the other. Hermione's breathing sped up as she leaned back against the shelves and ran her fingers through his hair. He had propped her leg up on his shoulder now as he kneeled in front of her. First he inserted one finger and then another into her hot wetness, and slowly applied pressure to her G-spot.

Hermione fisted his hair and pulled him towards her as she groaned.

"Oh, keep doing that, it's so – oh!"

Draco's hot tongue ran over her clit as he stimulated her inner wall. This time, he didn't make her wait and brought her to a swift and powerful orgasm with his mouth and fingers. She bucked her hips on his face as she cried out his name. As he felt the last of her contractions around his fingers, he slowly extracted them when Hermione caught his wrist.

He looked up at her. She again had that shit-eating grin on her face. He was learning to like that grin. Imitating a previous encounter of theirs, she slowly and deliberately raised his wet fingers to her mouth. Looking directly into his eyes, she inserted one of his fingers into her mouth and licked her juices off. He stood up to watch her, lips parted and heart racing.

_Damn! _

She ran her tongue all over his fingers, slowly licking and finally sucking his whole finger into her mouth, swirling her tongue around it and looking into his lust-filled eyes. The sensation went right from his finger to his cock.

He stared at her entranced. Would she go down on him? He knew that she was a virgin before that night in the library, but she didn't seem to have the shyness and embarrassment that most virgins did. In fact, losing her virginity didn't seem to bother her at all. Maybe it was the after-effects of the _Lustfarae_. Or maybe Hermione was just different. He smiled at her. Either way, bully for him!

She slowly extracted his finger from her mouth while simultaneously applying suction. He groaned.

"So I've been reading a bit," she began.

That grin of hers was back.

"Were you now?" he asked, his voice was husky.

"Yes I was, and I'd like to try something new." She ran her hands down his front and started to lightly stroke his member again.

"Something new?" he growled at her. She gripped him down there with more force and cupped his balls lightly, running her fingers over them back and forth. He hissed.

"Yes, but you're going to have to be patient. You see, I only know how to do this theoretically. I have no… ummm…" She licked her lips and his cock twitched in her hands. "… Practical experience."

Pre-cum left the tip of his cock; she swiped it up with her finger and brought it to her mouth.

"Merlin!" he whispered. She began to lower herself and kneel in front of him.

_Yes! Yes! Yes!_

He clutched the shelves and leaned back against them as he felt her lick his member with her tongue. He could feel his cock twitch with each touch, with each swipe of her warm tongue. Merlin, he wanted to be in her mouth! She continued to lick him up and down, swirling her tongue around the sides and tip. Just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, he felt the warm expanse of her mouth as he entered her.

He shuddered and let out a moan. She began to pump him with her hand as an extension of her mouth. Slowly at first, back and forth. Her other hand, which had been lightly caressing his balls, inched backward to apply pressure to his taint and rub it back and forth. The saliva from her mouth dripped downwards, lubricating the area as she rubbed it. He felt desire coil around his body and went rigid.

"Merlin!" he gasped for the second time.

Which books was she reading? He'd have to try that the next time he wanked. He could feel her smile around his cock, and he grinned.

"Hey!" he said, looking down at her. "Don't start getting too cocky, you're not that greeeeeaaaa- Gaaaaahhhh!"

His eyes bulged. Without warning, she had inserted her finger into his anus. He held onto the bookshelves for support as the unfamiliar sensation of being violated from behind weakened his knees. Before he had time to think about the irony of the situation, she began to stroke his prostate. He bucked hard as her finger moved in time with her mouth and hand along his member, and his orgasm quickly approached without warning.

"Fuck! I'm going to - ungh!"

He held onto the bookshelves and blew his load into the back of her mouth. She kept stroking his prostate and member, and before he had a chance to say anything else, he felt a second orgasm rip though his body, without cum. He yelled and bucked his hips as the last of his orgasm passed.

Still clutching the bookcase, he hung his head and waited for his breathing to steady. She slowly and gingerly extracted her finger from his anus and his member from her mouth. He shuddered from the oversensitivity of his genital area and slid down to the floor next to her.

Draco looked at Hermione with wonder in his eyes. She smiled at him and swallowed. _She swallowed his cum._

"You are… fucking amazing."

She smiled wickedly. "I wanted to make you feel as good as you make me feel."

He leaned his head back against the bookshelf and let out a long breath. "Fucking. Amazing."

He turned his head to study her again. "Come here."

He dragged her into a hug on his lap, buried his face into her neck and hair, and breathed in her scent. Neither one of them talked or moved for a few minutes.

"So what are these books you're reading anyway? I approve."

ooooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooooooo

Hermione and Draco were huddled together in a far corner table.

"So it was Lavender the whole time? Hah! I told Potty it wasn't a Slytherin." Draco certainly enjoyed gloating.

"What are you going to do? I know what I'm going to do. Buy her flowers. Chocolates. Write a personalized thank you note. Whatever the hell she wants."

Hermione looked up with a rueful grin. "I'll do nothing. In fact, I still need to apologize to her."

Draco's jaw dropped.

Hermione explained. "Even if the results of her prank wouldn't have been so…."

"Fan-fucking-tastic!"

"I was going to say-"

"Mind-blowing!"

"Positive."

Draco looked at her incredulously. "So a _positive_ experience got you to admit that you're my Mudblood whore? Ow!"

She kicked him under the table. He glared at her, grabbed her knee and squeezed. Hard. She winced.

"Quit with the shin kicking," he growled at her menacingly. She looked up, suddenly afraid.

He bet he'd left finger shaped bruises. _Good._

He loosened his hold and smirked back at her, caressing her thigh gently. "That's more like it."

Hermione stared nervously into his grey eyes. Oh, he was sexy when he was bad.

"You were saying?" he prodded her with a half smirk playing across her lips.

Hermione cleared her throat. "Even if things hadn't turned out okay in the end, I would still say that I deserved it."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really?"

"I was a complete and utter bitch to her. I deserved it."

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that," Draco grinned at her wickedly, "but we can see where that masochistic streak of yours leads."

She studied him for a bit.

"What?" he asked.

She cocked her head to the side, not sure if she wanted to ask this. "Draco, what are we now?"

He eyed her warily. "Do you want a label for us?"

She thought a minute. "Not necessarily, I guess I'm just curious about what to say. Are we public? Are we in hiding? Do you mind if your friends know?"

"Do you mind if your friends know?"

"Well, they'll know eventually at the rate we're going. We haven't really made any attempts to be discreet with each other. Except when we…" She looked up at him and gave her a knowing smirk.

"On the other hand," she continued, "it's not like we've made any official move in public. They just haven't noticed yet, but they will eventually. They're not complete idiots."

He caressed a bit farther up her thigh. "I'd beg to differ."

She smacked his hand down. He brought it right back up. She pursed her lips together in frustration and he grinned back in amusement.

"I'm _trying_ to have a conversation with you."

He continued to work his way up her thigh and looked at her earnestly. "I'm listening."

"I'll have to lay the groundwork first. Ron is still ready to kill you."

Draco snorted. "The feeling's mutual." His fingers reached to where there were no knickers.

"Oh, well, that's settled then. You've got so much in common," she said, as she smacked his hand away again.

Draco looked at her as if she had grown another head. "I know you're kidding, but don't even start hoping for it." The hand was back up under her skirt.

"You?"

"Half of them want to fuck you anyway. I wouldn't mind showing them that my territory is marked," Draco said, grinning evilly.

She gave him another kick under the table. His eyes hardened and he was on her before she had a chance to move. He pulled on her hair, dragged her head back, and growled in a low voice. "You're lucky that I have to go right now, little girl."

His fingers rubbed her clit and she spread her legs wider for him. A rush of adrenaline sped through her as she looked into his grey eyes, full of dangerous promises.

"I don't think that you've adequately learned your lesson," he continued, his voice full of menace.

His fingers pinched and twisted her clit painfully. She whimpered. He lowered his face to her even further with his hot breath directly on her ear.

"Next time," he whispered, "it won't be my finger taking you from behind." She gasped as he pinched her clit again, leaving her in a right state before walking off.

Draco left without looking back, smiling all the way to Quidditch practice.

ooooooooooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Thinking that two days was sufficient time for Lavender to cool off, Hermione summoned her courage and headed to the Gryffindor common room. Lavender was sitting in between Ron and Harry and the three were laughing. She felt relieved in that she was happy for them instead of resentful of Lavender's presence.

Maybe this whole experience had changed her for the better. Hopefully. She didn't like how she had behaved before around Lavender. Furthermore, she didn't like that she had justified her behaviour, making herself out to be the "good one" when they were both clearly at fault.

She took a breath and approached them. "Um, Lavender, I need help with…"

Lavender looked at her warily. Hermione was going to say something about hair, but realized that she would just be repeating the same mistakes that she made earlier when Lavender had rejected her apology.

"…with catching up on History of Magic and Care of Magical Creatures. I'm missing two days of notes, and yours are much better organized than either Harry's or Ron's."

Ron snorted. "That's not saying much. A Hippogriff's notes would be more organ- ow!" Lavender elbowed him in the ribs.

"Okay," Lavender said warily. "My things are upstairs."

The two girls walked awkwardly together to the girls' dorms. When they reached Lavender's bed, she leafed through a few parchments and retrieved what Hermione needed.

"Thanks… um…."

"I wanted to apologize," Lavender started.

Hermione was surprised, that's what she came here to do.

"Slipping you the potion was a nasty thing to do. And I really appreciate that you didn't say anything. I think Ron would have dumped me had he found out. And I certainly would have lost all of you as friends.

Lavender sighed. "I really am sorry. And you were right, I didn't think all of the consequences through. It could have even been dangerous."

"I Stunned Snape."

"Well, that was just a bonus," Lavender said and laughed.

Hermione chuckled, and then the moment passed into awkward silence.

Hermione cleared her throat. "I deserved it."

Lavender was startled. "No, Hermione, you really didn't."

"I deserved it," Hermione repeated herself. "I've treated you horribly since you and Ron have been together. I misjudged you, and when I apologized two days ago for my behaviour, I realized that I hadn't really stopped misjudging you. You were right."

Lavender listened patiently.

Hermione took a deep breath. "I'm a stuck-up bitch. I think that I'm better than a lot of other people. Not just you."

Lavender gasped, then giggled.

Hermione continued, "No, it's okay. It's true. And you've known it's true for a long time. I haven't. But I'm trying to change those things. Okay?"

Lavender nodded.

Thinking of Draco and how he had surprised her, she continued, "People are very complex. You can't suss them out so quickly. How can anyone hope to understand a person that they don't take the time to know?"

She brought her thoughts back to Lavender. "And I didn't take the time to get to know you. So why don't we start over? And take the time to know each other?"

Lavender gave her a genuine smile. "I'd like that."

"I'll start." Hermione looked at her mischievously. "I'll tell you something that Harry, Ron and Ginny don't know yet."

"What's that?" Lavender asked, now full of curiosity.

Hermione smirked. "That potion of yours was the best thing to happen to me."

Lavender's eyebrows shot up to her forehead.

"Oh, really?"

-Fin.-

**Chapter End Notes:**

And that's it!  
My first story. A big thanks to Gryffindor_Slytherin for being a superb beta!  
Any critiques are welcome, tell me what you liked, tell me what you didn't like, it'll just make me a better author.  
Thanks to everyone who read it!


	7. Epilogue  4 weeks later

Chapter Notes:

Some of the comments gave me ideas for an epilogue. I hope that this ties up all the loose ends, and that everyone enjoys it!

**Epilogue – 1 (4 weeks later)**

"Not now!" Hermione giggled nervously as Draco chased her around the Heads' common room.

Draco caught the struggling Hermione by the waist and pulled her flush against him.

"Yes, now." He glowered down at her. "You can't get me worked up like that and not expect to get fucked." He lowered his lips to her ear and growled, "Cock tease."

He did have a point. Over the past few days, she had been teasing him during the classes they had together. Whenever she'd catch him staring at her, she would play with her quill with her tongue as if in thought, or lick her lips, or push her chest out while stretching her arms, or hike her skirt up whilst pretending to scratch an itch on her upper thigh, or bend over in his direction, allowing him to see down her shirt. She knew that he knew exactly what she was doing, but she didn't care. She wouldn't look at him directly, continuing her façade of nonchalance, but she could still see him tense up and shift in his seat.

He, of course, would invariably seek her out when the teasing became too much for him, but she made sure to always be surrounded by people, and would later hide in the Heads' common room, essentially keeping him in a constant state of want. He had met her eyes while she was talking with Harry and Ron the other day outside of Transfiguration and from the look on his face, she thought that he would drag her away from them and damn the consequences. She hadn't told Harry and Ron yet about her trysts with Draco. That probably would have resulted in fighting, yelling, attempted murder, or worse – maybe even getting themselves expelled.

She _really_ wasn't looking forward to having that conversation.

In the meantime, it was fun to play mental games with Draco. However, she had developed feelings for him and had this unsettling feeling that they weren't mutual. She was afraid of approaching him about it lest she put herself in the position that Pansy was. The empty ache that she felt in her stomach when she thought of him not wanting to stray from their booty call arrangement told her that she had quite possibly fallen in love with him. If she were completely honest with herself, she would admit that on a subconscious level, her toying with him was creating the illusion that he was chasing after her, when it was really the other way around.

Apparently, he'd caught on to her game, albeit not the reasoning.

Not fifteen minutes ago, she had "accidentally" dropped her textbook in front of him while walking into Ancient Runes. She'd bent over to pick it up with her backside facing him, allowing her skirt to hike up considerably. Feeling quite pleased with herself, she'd turned around to smirk at him, but the half-smile had frozen on her face. His jaw had been clenched angrily and his eyes were dark with lust.

She'd known then that she was in trouble, as evidenced by his actions now.

"What did you think?" His eyes glittered menacingly. "That I would be at your beck and call?"

He pinned her arms to her sides and proceeded to walk her backwards towards the portrait door. She struggled in his grasp.

"You _were_ getting fairly predictable." She gasped as her back collided with the door, the force of Draco's weight pinning her there.

She knew she was pushing her luck by antagonizing him, but that was half the fun.

"Blaise could come back any minute!" Hermione protested as she squirmed, jerking her head out of the way. Blaise was actually tutoring a second-year right now, but she was trying to regain some of the leverage that she'd held over Draco over the past few days. Stalling would allow her some time to think. She couldn't put two thoughts together with Draco's hands roughly groping her legs and thighs, and his body pressing against her.

Draco had apparently weaseled the password to the Heads' common room out of Blaise. It was nice that those two were on good terms again (both of the gits were less moody and much easier to deal with), but Blaise would pay for revealing the password. He would now find more than his fair share of work thrown at him this week, if not all of it. There would also be many death glares directed at his person. _Many._

Draco's voice was muffled as he tried talking while sucking on her neck. "Erfmmmm - can fucking watch."

"Don't be an idiot!" she cried, trying unsuccessfully to pry his hands off her bum.

Draco's hands and lips seemed to be everywhere at once, and her body temperature rose as desire shot through her. Giving in to her passion, she attacked him just as forcefully. She threaded her hands through his hair and proceeded to suck on his jaw, the nape of his neck, and then moved her lips back to his. She felt a grin spread across his face as she released his lower lip.

Hermione pushed herself off the door, grabbed his shoulders, jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. He may have caught her today, but she was going to be on top this time. Draco seemed to have other ideas and he pushed her against the door again.

"Uhh!" She gasped as the breath was knocked out of her and she collided with the hard wood.

Draco's free hand was groping around her hips and buttocks, both massaging her flesh and attempting to pull down her knickers. After a few painful tugs of the material, he muttered an incantation and they vanished.

Hermione's eyes opened in surprise.

_Wandless?_

Draco smirked and he undid his trousers one-handedly. They fell to a pile around his ankles.

"Best. Spell. Ever."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him.

"If you even try doing that in class," she said as she pinched and twisted his nipple through his shirt for emphasis, "I will _personally_ take your balls and…"

Draco let out a half-laugh, half-gasp as he wrenched Hermione's hand away and slammed it against the door. He pressed against her core, sliding himself over her warm wetness and his eyes flashed at her.

"Enough talk," he growled.

He hooked his arm underneath the crook of her left knee and forced her leg up and back against the door, restricting her movements.

"Right now," he teased her entrance with his member and she jerked and gasped as when it rubbed her clit, "you're mine."

As he thrust up and sank into her, the force of him entering her roughly pushed her head back against the door with a crack.

"Aaaah!" a guttural moan was forced from her mouth.

Her body was lifted with the force of his thrust and he grunted with the exertion. He was all over her, encasing her, inside of her. It felt so good, she didn't know what to do with herself. But her shoulders and back were in pain, taking quite the beating from being slammed repeatedly against the door.

Draco pounded into her, bracing himself against the wall by pinning her right arm and left leg against the back of the portrait door. All she could do was hold on, her right leg wrapped around his waist and left arm clutching his shoulder.

She could feel her orgasm building; small waves of pleasure rippling through her body as he used her.

"Fu- fu- oh, God! I – Aah!" She felt out of control. She had to grab onto something. The heat enflaming her body was too much. The nails of her right hand dug into the palm that Draco pinned against the door. She grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked his head back.

He groaned as he released her right hand. She clasped his neck, feeling the strain of his muscles underneath his skin and a slight vibration in his body, and dug her nails in. He yelled at the sudden pain and laughed.

In retaliation, he brought his hand down to her bum and dug his fingers into her flesh. He pushed her back against the door and pulled her bum forward, in time with his thrusts, molding her to his motions, to his need.

She gasped and yelped each time he penetrated her. She had no control over her body. The sensations rolled over her and she screamed her release as Draco pulled her pelvis tight against his own. He rocked forward and shot his seed into her, shuddering with each emission.

Their breaths came in heaving pants and slowly, they released each other. Muscles that had been tight with the tension of their coupling were now relaxing. She let go of his hair and he leaned his head forward, panting into the nape of her neck.

"Fuck, Granger." His voice strained as he breathed into her ear.

He released his hand from the crook of her knee and slowly lowered her so that she could stand. She felt him slide out of her as her feet touched the floor, but as soon as she was supporting her own weight, her legs buckled, and she nearly fell to the floor.

"Waa-" Hermione's arms flailed as she tried to catch herself.

Strong hands caught her by the waist and pulled her up again.

"Thanks, I-"

Draco's laughter cut her off.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake-"

"-so hard you can't stand up-"

"-goddamn pleased with yourself."

She tried to let out an exasperated sigh as he helped her sit down on the couch, but she couldn't completely keep the smile from dancing around her lips. Draco was unabashedly grinning from ear to ear as he zipped his trousers back up.

Her thigh muscles were killing her. Her back ached, and was probably bruised, but that fuck was brilliant.

She turned a critical eye towards Draco from her seated position on the couch.

He _would_ still look put together after a shagging up against the wall. His hair was tousled, but the only thing that might have given him away was a light sheen of sweat on his flushed face. He could have been running to class. Her hair was all over the place and her clothes a wrinkled mess on her body. And now, she didn't even have her knickers on under her skirt.

She rubbed her shoulders. She felt completely knackered while he looked like he could go for round two. Then again, it wasn't _his_ body that would be sore from a position like that.

She yelped as the portrait hole creaked slowly open. Panicked, she met Draco's eyes and they both turned to see Blaise slowly step through the door. Hermione snapped her legs together, wrapped her skirt as tightly as it would go around her legs, and placed her hands protectively in her lap. It wasn't as if Blaise could see anything and it certainly wasn't the first time she'd been without knickers under her skirt, but still. She felt vulnerable after just being shagged - especially in such a manner.

Draco turned to Blaise. "You have impeccable timing."

Dark eyes crinkled in amusement. "Timing? The door isn't soundproof."

Blood rushed to Hermione's face.

_No!_

"I thought you were tutoring?" Her voice came out in a rush.

"Cancelled," Blaise replied as he shut the door behind him. "And here I was thinking it was Goldstein making you scream like that." He turned to Draco and said, "If I knew _that's_ why you wanted the password-"

"Oh, God." Hermione covered her face with her hands. She was so embarrassed. It was almost as bad as what had happened in Potions last month.

"Yeah, you screamed that too. Imagine my surprise to see that it was… Drakie."

Hermione looked over at the man in question, still smiling from the results of his sexual prowess and then put her head back in her hands.

_Didn't he feel any shame?_

Her embarrassment was turning into anger. Why was it that the guy got to be proud when caught, but the girl had to be embarrassed? For Draco, this was even better than bragging about it afterwards. The ultimate way of "marking his territory", as he had put it.

"Seriously, Granger?" Hermione raised her head to Blaise. "You could do so much better. He's got no technique."

Hermione cracked a grateful smile. Maybe Blaise wasn't so bad, trying to ease her mortification. Then again, he could have stayed outside and prevented it entirely.

Draco looked incredulous. "Just two minutes ago-"

Hermione glared daggers at Draco and he abruptly shut his mouth. Blaise's eyebrows slowly rose in amusement as his eyes traveled back and forth between the two.

"So… are you two together now?"

And that was _the_ worst thing to ask at a time like this. And as she feared, the answer was silence. Awkward silence. The longer the silence extended, the cheaper she felt.

Great. She was essentially Draco Malfoy's fuck toy.

"Uh huh." Blaise was clearly enjoying the awkwardness he had caused between the two.

She looked down at her feet so that she wouldn't be tempted to meet Draco's eyes. He would see right through her.

Blaise wasn't done yet. "If you need to get your rocks off, you could always come to me."

_Ick._ Having his services offered, even in jest, really did make her feel like a tramp.

"Blaise, leave," her voice sounded muffled.

"Get lost, Zabini." Draco shoved Blaise to the door.

"You could do _so_ much better," Blaise repeated to her half inside and half outside the common room.

"All _right_, Zabini." Draco tried to close the door on him.

"With me, you won't have to fake-"

"Sod. Off." Draco shut the door on Blaise.

Hermione continued to stare at her feet and sank into the couch even further. No, they weren't together. It was just sex. And homework. An odd combination, and sometimes one led to the other. They had fun together, and he made her feel special, and desirable.

But that's the way Draco was. He could turn on the charm if he wanted to. She'd witnessed it several times since they'd started their affair. He was a charismatic person. No wonder so many girls wanted him. No wonder Pansy followed him around. Although lately, Hermione noticed that Pansy had kept her distance. Maybe she had given up on trying to tie him down and had moved on.

_Smart girl. Maybe I could learn from her._

Unfortunately, he didn't show any signs of wanting to change the friends-with-benefits arrangement that he had with Hermione. Was she going to end up like Pansy? Following Draco around in the hopes that he would return her feelings?

"You have to watch Zabini." Draco's voice cut through her reverie. "He's pure Slytherin."

She raised her head to see him gathering up his robes and satchel. He winked at her and she felt butterflies in her stomach.

"He's not the only one," she retorted, to Draco's amusement.

"A bit of advice if he's getting the upper hand," Draco said as he walked over to her. "Insult his mother."

He cupped her chin and gently stroked her cheek with his thumb. Her heartbeat quickened at his unexpected tenderness. Sex came often, but moments like these were rare. Her insides started fluttering uncontrollably while his grey eyes studied her. Maybe he did feel something? Or was she grasping at straws?

His voice lowered slightly and his eyes peered into hers. "He loses all ability to reason."

Her breath caught in her throat. It just wasn't fair that he could make her feel this way.

Draco's hand dropped and he turned around towards the portrait hole.

"See you later, Granger," he called back.

She watched the portrait door close and quickly re-open. Draco's face reappeared with a malicious smile.

"If you change the password, I _will_ fuck you in front of Potty and Weasel."

oooooooooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hermione was sitting in the Great Hall with the rest of the seventh year Gryffindors, slouched in her seat, and facing away from the Slytherin table. Everyone was talking animatedly around her while she remained sullen, poking at her food with her fork.

She eyed Lavender, who gave a quick peck to Ron's cheek. He met Hermione's eyes, blushed and smiled. She smiled back and looked down at her plate of food again.

She couldn't help but be resentful of Lavender. Hermione had thought that she'd forgiven her, but apparently, she hadn't. She felt much more magnanimous last week when she'd been on top of the world having the time of her life with Draco. Now here she was, a mopey sod. Things looked to be going better than ever between Lav-Lav and Won-Won while she was Malfoy's groupie of the hour, being used and eventually discarded.

_Ugh_.

It would have been less painful if Lavender had succeeded in taking Crabbe's quill. At least the humiliation would have been over and done with by now.

She didn't realize that she was giving Lavender the stink eye until the bitch in question's voice jolted her out of her reverie.

"Hermione, are you okay?"

Ron, Harry, and Ginny turned towards her.

"You looked pissed," Lavender said slowly. "Off, that is."

Hermione stared down at her plate again to avoid the puzzled glances of her friends that were directed towards her.

She was that obvious, was she?

"No, just a bit stressed about an Arithmancy project," she replied quickly. School work made a good cover for just about anything she didn't want to discuss. Since none of her friends had taken Arithmancy, they wouldn't know whether there really was a project or not.

Out of the corner of her eye, she looked at Ron and Lavender's entwined hands. Life sucked. She had been the bigger person. She forgave Lavender. She was working on her… "issues." So why did Lavender get her guy and Hermione didn't?

She couldn't keep her brain from screaming "YOU FUCKING BITCH!" over and over again.

Lavender ended up having her cake and eating it too. She had humiliated Hermione, with no retribution, and now Hermione was humiliating _herself_ by hoping that Draco would consider her more worthy than the others he'd been with, and return her feelings.

She threw her fork down on the table with disgust. As if _she_ had to be worthy enough for _him_.

Fuck that. Fuck Draco. She didn't need any of this shit.

Lavender smiled as Ron wrapped his arm around her. She ground her teeth together and exhaled forcefully. She needed to get out of here, lest her plate shatter to pieces from the force of her stare.

She really was supposed to finish up her Arithmancy project anyway. Wordlessly, she collected her things and stood up to go to the library, ignoring the curious glances her friends were giving her.

As she walked past the Slytherin table, purposely not looking at _him_, she felt a sudden gust of cool air underneath her skirt. Her knickers had vanished. A_gain_.

Without stopping, she flashed Draco a rude hand gesture - which she hoped wouldn't be seen by any of the professors - and left the Great Hall. Much as she wanted a more emotional bond with him, she wasn't going to make an idiot out of herself any longer.

Grumbling in a low voice, she rounded a corner and collided with the massive wall that was Crabbe.

He looked annoyed, ready to push her aside, when suddenly he realized who he had bumped into. His eyes widened and he sidestepped around her as quick as his bulky frame would permit.

"S-sorry!" he stammered as he scurried out of her way and into the Great Hall.

Hermione smiled to herself. Okay, so there were some perks to that whole ordeal in Potions.

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Draco was bent over one of the library tables, furiously looking between two thick tomes and scribbling lines across a parchment. It wasn't like him to procrastinate so much with his assignments, but he'd been a bit distracted lately. Speaking of which, a small hand kept inching its way around the top of his thigh and towards his groin. He shook her hand off with his leg.

"Granger!"

He could see Hermione's eyes widen with feigned innocence out of the corner of his vision.

She was angry. He wasn't sure if it was at him, after Blaise had walked in on them, or at someone else. She had been distant when he first sat down to work on his Arithmancy project next to her, answering his queries with non-committal shrugs and barely-verbal responses; but as soon as he had let on how far behind he was, she had started her campaign of distraction.

She'd inched her chair closer to his and her proximity made his hair stand on end. All he could think about now was that he had Vanished her knickers.

_Stupid._

She crossed her legs and his eyes followed the movement of the toned thighs under her skirt. She delicately played with the hem and stated to pull on it, exposing her upper thighs.

"Draco," she purred in his ear. "I've got an itch here."

He felt his arousal start to take shape. Shifting in his seat and turning back to the text, he tried to will his erection away, but it was impossible with her acting like this.

Her fingers grazed the skin of her thighs, raising the hemline of her skirt ever so slowly.

Her voice lilted in his ear. "It's right about…"

Against his better judgment, he eyed her legs as she slowly exposed them. The material of her skirt was bunched up, but still covered her most private area. He inhaled quickly.

He turned to face her and stared at her lips. They spread in a slow smile, but it wasn't friendly. It was devilish. He forced himself to return his gaze to his parchment.

"Here." Her breath caressed his ear.

Draco clenched his hands and tried to keep his breathing even. "Hermione, I would love to scratch that itch for you. _Later_."

She put her hand on his leg, lightly. His muscle tensed and she inched her hand up again, massaging his thigh through the fabric of his trousers.

Heat spread out from her hand and his nostrils flared as he exhaled and tried to concentrate on the problem before him.

"Hermione, this is serious. If I don't solve this problem soon, I won't be able to hand in the project on time."

She spread her fingers so that the tips were mere centimeters from his cock - which was now fully erect and forming a tent in his lap.

He swallowed and encased her slender wrist with his thumb and forefinger, reluctantly pulling it away.

"But Draco," she leaned in close to him, "I'm hot," she murmured into his ear. "And wet," she whispered.

His mouth went dry. He looked down at his notes; the past few lines were mere scribbles.

He couldn't turn to look at her. Her proximity was hard enough to deal with while trying to concentrate. If he looked at her, he'd be lost.

"Hermione, please, later." He exhaled sharply as she leaned in and stroked his thigh again, "we'll do whatever you want."

She glanced curiously at the problem he had to solve.

"It's the... theorem. Something's…" he heard his voice crack as she grazed his member, "wrong."

Her delicate fingers were making maddening circles around his pelvic area and inner thighs. He closed his eyes and slowly opened them again, desire and heat flooding his body. She teased him, her hands coming closer to his groin and then retreating.

He didn't dare move. One hand was gripping the side of his chair and the other held his quill.

His voice came out breathy, "Been working on it – ah!" He moaned as a hot wet tongue licked the side of his neck up to his jaw. "All last week, I can't – oh Merlin!" His eyes closed involuntarily as she nipped and sucked on his earlobe.

Her hand cupped his member through the fabric and he bucked up.

"Gaaah! Stop, stop, please," his voice lowered as he continued to fight off the sensations running through his body. "This is serious, I could fail the project."

Firmly, he removed her hand yet again.

"Is it, Draco?" She breathed into his ear.

He felt her breasts press against the side of his face as she stood up and a soft moan escaped his lips.

"Yes," he rasped.

And then mercifully – _regrettably_ - she stopped rubbing up against him.

He let out a sigh and proceeded to think of the necessary images of naked professors to calm his lust since there was no time for a cold shower.

It was hard to get rid of an erection, so to speak. Especially if she was going to work next to him _sans_ knickers, but it could be done.

Maybe.

He ran a hand through his hair, feeling hot. "Thanks. I'll make it up to you."

He leaned forward to continue looking for leads on solving the problem when he felt the softness and warmth of the side of her breast press against his cheek. She leaned forward from behind him and rested her hand on his, plucking the quill from his hand.

His receding erection came back full force and he involuntarily inhaled her scent, wanting nothing more than to turn his face into her soft cleavage.

He closed his eyes and groaned again. "Please, don't…"

Her breasts jiggled slightly next to his cheek and he couldn't help himself. He reached up to palm one, massaging it, feeling the flesh move. He opened his eyes and saw with surprise that her lightly bouncing breasts were caused by her _writing._ She'd crossed out a few of his calculations, redrew a figure, wrote a final equation and circled it.

He stared at the parchment in front of him, gobsmacked.

"Bl-o-o-dy hell. Did you just solve that now?" Hermione was smart, but that was _insane._

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "What? No. I had a similar problem on my project last month. I solved it then, using the same principles."

Draco turned around to face her. "But where did you find the solution? I couldn't find _anything_ here." He gestured to the books that he was reading.

"I didn't _find_ it. It took a long time to figure out."

His jaw dropped. "You solved it yourself?"

That was fucking _hot_.

A thought flitted through Draco's mind – would it be weird to wank to a memory of Hermione kicking his Arithmancy project's arse? Perhaps, but he didn't care.

She nodded, a small grin spreading on her lips. Hermione didn't fish for compliments, nor was she dependent on them. All the same, she loved being praised for her intellect. Draco could tell that she was desperately trying to keep her smile in check so as to maintain her strop about whatever it was that had her so naffed off.

"How?" He studied her. Her smile broke through from behind the grin, shining through her eyes, lighting up her entire face.

"Hard work and deductive reasoning."

He smiled, shook his head and looked up at her again in admiration. She was positively beaming. The anger was gone, he was sure of it. He'd still make it up to her. Thanks to her, he'd be able to finish the project with time to spare.

"You're fucking brilliant, Granger."

She bit her bottom lip. He grabbed her upper arms to pull her down to sit in his lap and sighed. Gods, did her bum feel good on his erection. He moved her legs so that she straddled him, laced his hands through her curls, brought her face up to his and proceeded to snog her thoroughly.

He was so lost in the feel of Hermione writhing on his lap and responding to each movement of his fingers and tongue that he didn't hear the shout until it was repeated and followed by a loud smack on the table in front of them.

They both jumped and turned towards the disruptive noise.

The first thing that Draco noticed was how much the purple tint of the Weasel's skin clashed with his red hair.

"I said," Weasley shouted at him, "what the _fuck_ are you doing?" He slammed the table again for emphasis.

Draco's erection was gone now.

"Arithmancy," he sneered.

Hermione tried to get up from Draco's lap but he pulled her back down. There was no way he was going to let Weaselbee - _of all people_ - tell him who he could and couldn't snog.

Draco watched the Weasel's eyes bulge even more. "Get your ruddy hands off her!"

Hermione tried to get up again. "Draco, wait. Let me-"

He pulled her back down.

Hermione. Was. _His_. The sodding wanker had better get used to it.

Ron stalked around to the other side of the table. "You fucking – "

"Ron, wait, I can…" she protested, while attempting to stand again. In retrospect, Draco considered that if he hadn't been so intent on keeping Hermione where she was, he could have blocked the Weasel's punch.

Draco's head snapped back violently. Strangely enough, he didn't feel any pain. But there was an annoying ringing in his ears followed by the even more annoying hysterical condemnations of Madam Pince. Their shouting had brought her to this section of the library.

He shook his head and realized that he was on the ground, but couldn't remember falling. Hermione was shouting at Ron, and admirably blocking him from any more of the Weasel's wrath. He was shouting back at her. Madam Pince was yammering about detentions and looking at him worriedly.

_Blimey, the Weasel had a strong right hook. _

He felt his eyelids being pried open while he tried to focus on the blurred spectacles of Madam Pince, whose anxious face was hovering over him.

"Mister Malfoy," the librarian said and lightly smacked the side of his face, "how many fingers am I holding up?"

He gave a confused look at what appeared to be between two to four fingers and the world slowly went black.

Chapter End Notes:

Don't worry, that's only half of the epilogue. Next half coming soon!


	8. Epilogue part 2

**Chapter Notes**

Many of you may have read this before. The only reason a new chapter is appearing is because I went back and tweaked here and there. (it's a good think if you look back and thing your writing sucks, right? A sign of improvement?) So I split the Epilogue as I did originally at H&V for consistency's sake. I'm waiting for parts of the continuation of They All Taste The Same to be beta'd, so I thought I'd go back see where I could make this story better.

Also, just a note, I LOVE getting the reviews. I love hearing what everyone has to say, good and bad. It gives me something to think about, and helps me. I don't answer reviews on this site just because it's a pain. The set up on Hawthorne and Vine and Granger Enchanted is much easier to answer reviews, and so I do so on those sites.

**Epilogue - 2**

"-can't believe you did that! Madam Pince, is he-" Hermione asked worriedly.

"You're cursed, Hermione, it's the potion again." Ron insisted, gesticulating wildly.

She gave an exasperated sigh. "I'm not _cursed_, Ron. I'm with him of my own volition."

She turned to the librarian, expecting a fight from Ron over her admission. "Is he alright?"

"You couldn't possibly be. He's _Malfoy!_ Think, Hermione!" he said as his index finger jabbed the side of his forehead for effect.

She raised her voice. "I'm not cursed. I took the antidote!" She turned worriedly to Draco. "Look what you did, Ron!"

Madam Pince started to answer. "He'll be fine, he's-"

"How do you know you're not cursed again?" Ron threw his hands into the air.

"Because I'm _not!_" She stamped her foot in frustration. "I was completely aware that I was acting abnormally when I was cursed. For God's sake, I had to convince everyone _else_ that I was cursed!"

"So. What."

Hermione should have known that logic wouldn't work with Ron when he was this worked up. She threw her hands up and let out an exasperated sigh.

Undaunted by her frustration, Ron continued in his attempts to convince her. "Malfoy didn't get caught the first time, so he did it again! Maybe with a variation of the potion!"

Hermione closed her eyes and counted to ten. "It's. _Not._ Malfoy," she said evenly, punctuating each word.

"Of course it is!" Ron countered, like it was an obvious fact.

"What motivation would he have?" she asked him disbelievingly, her voice taking on a shrill tone. She glanced down at Madam Pince, who was still checking on Draco.

"Madam Pince, is he-"

"How can you be so sure it wasn't him?"

_Oh for the love of… _

"Because I _am! _It wasn't Malfoy!"

Ron stopped shouting abruptly and looked at her strangely.

"You _know _who it was."

Hermione closed her mouth and exhaled loudly through her nose, not wanting to confirm or deny his statement.

_When did he get so perceptive?_

"And you didn't tell us," he continued.

She looked down at her feet, and then back up at Ron. He looked betrayed.

"I took care of it," she answered, trying to avoid his accusation.

"So then you and Malfoy…" Ron paled. He looked like he was going to throw up.

"I…"

How could she even _begin _to explain? But she didn't have a chance as Ron was already storming out of the library.

_Shit_.

She was losing her friend too, and for what? Good sex?

Madam Pince called out that Ron would be receiving numerous detentions and that the Headmistress would have a talk with him.

Hermione turned back to Madam Pince, leaning over Draco on the floor.

"He's out cold, Miss Granger, but he seems to be fine. I'm taking him to the infirmary."

Madam Pince Levitated Draco and proceeded to walk down to the infirmary, letting Hermione know just exactly how disappointed she was in her behavior and stressing that she should also report to the Headmistress. They would deal similarly with Draco when he was patched up.

Hermione looked down the hall. She could follow Draco down to the infirmary, or head back to Gryffindor Tower to attempt to patch things up with Ron.

Right now, as he was awake and very upset, Ron took priority.

oooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooo

"Ron!" she called to him from down the hall, and jogged to catch up to his long strides.

"Wait!"

She chased him up to Gryffindor Tower and jumped back as he slammed the portrait door shut.

She banged the door open amidst some huffing from the Fat Lady who exclaimed, "Well, I never!"

"Ron! Will you just listen-"

Abruptly, he rounded on her yelling, "Who was it?"

The rest of the Gryffindors in the common area immediately stopped their conversations and activities, all eyes drawn to the scene in front of them. They were starved for gossip, now that the war was over, and this looked to be especially good. All eyes were on Hermione.

"I promised I wouldn't tell."

His eyes widened.

"You _WHAT?_"

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Lavender fidgeting on the couch. She didn't dare turn to face her, knowing she'd give Lavender away, tempting as it was.

_Bitch._

His bright blue eyes flashed at her. "Why _in the hell_ would you do that?"

"Because I-"

Every head followed the verbal volley back and forth like the audience of a tennis match.

"Yeah, yeah, you promised, I _got _that. And now you're shagging Malfoy-"

Gasps resounded across the common room.

"Ronald!" she yelled, mortified. "That's none of your-"

"I don't even fucking know who you _are_ anymore! Since when do we keep secrets from each other? After all we've been through? After all he's done? And now you're bloody fucking him?"

"Stop it, Ron," she pleaded.

"So you're protecting them because you can't get enough of Malfoy's dick?"

Gasps again, and a resounding smack as Ron's face jerked to the side. He pressed his hand to where she left a red handprint blooming on his cheek.

Hermione was livid, and she lowered her voice menacingly. "I don't care _how_ angry you are, Ronald Weasley. You don't talk to me that way. _Ever!_"

Everyone was holding their breaths. Hermione thought she could hear someone munching on popcorn.

A soft voice came out of the tense, silent common room.

"It was me," admitted Lavender.

More gasps, and all eyes traveled to the new participant in the live drama unfolding before them.

Ron's eyes widened and he slowly turned to face Lavender.

"_You?_"

She approached him, steadily, but fearfully, and assented.

Ron studied her for a minute, narrowed his eyes, and nodded, seeming to understand why she would do such a thing.

"That's… disappointing."

He turned to walk out the door. With tears in her eyes, Lavender tried to approach him.

He turned back and answered, "We're through."

The portrait door slammed behind him.

ooooooooooooooooooo

oooooooooooooooooooo

Later that day, Hermione tried in vain to find Ron. It was difficult since she was also doing her best to avoid everyone else and their staring, judgments and questions that she didn't want to answer. Then again, he would also want to be away from people, and so the places that she would go to be alone might coincide with his.

She was sad, and hurt. But at the same time, she felt an immense relief that her fling with Draco was out in the open. She hated going behind their backs. And now that her closest relationships were crumbling around her, she felt strangely liberated. Her worst fears had been realized and it couldn't get any worse… she hoped.

Hermione and Draco had been seen together on various occasions doing schoolwork together, and so it was general knowledge that they had a working relationship in some form. Harry, Ron and Ginny teased her about putting up with his ferrety presence, oblivious to Lavender's knowing smirk. So long as she never countered the disdain her friends felt towards Draco, they seemed to reluctantly accept that she had a new study partner. They could tolerate her working with him, but she wasn't sure that they could tolerate her liking him, even in a platonic fashion. Now she knew for certain that Ron couldn't. She hadn't stayed long enough to gauge Harry and Ginny's reactions.

She would have preferred to tell her friends about her affair in good time and with a certain amount of preparation to soften them up (in the form of chocolate frogs, and a new Wizarding Chess set, and maybe tickets to the Quidditch World Cup). Until recently, she was actually planning on telling them. That was before she felt misgivings about her feelings for Draco, and his lack of feelings towards her. In the past few days, she considered ending the whole thing, thus making the revelation to her friends a moot point. The only mention the whole fiasco should have merited would have been in a drunken admission two years from now while she and her friends were in a pub and her feelings would have subsided and she might have been able to laugh about her schoolgirl crush.

Now the shit that hit the fan had to be dealt with, but she couldn't find Ron, and Harry and Ginny were most likely surrounded by people, and therefore couldn't be approached. Feeling guilty about Draco's injury, she plodded towards the infirmary, doing so under the guise of a Disillusionment Charm to avoid talking to people. Quietly approaching his bed, she looked down. The git was still unconscious, and she could see where Madam Pomfrey had begun healing his bruised eye. She looked down at him and involuntarily reached out to stroke his hair. Her hand paused in midair.

Much as she wanted to, much as she loved to, she shouldn't touch him. He didn't want her in the same way. She had to let him go. No more sex, no more homework, no more teasing, no more games, no more post coital conversations. She wouldn't be rude to him, she'd be cordial, but that would be it. She wasn't going to chase after someone who didn't want to be caught.

She sighed. Well, she should at least write him a note seeing as he got punched by _her_ friend, in a fight over _her_.

Looking around to be sure that she was alone, she grabbed a paper and quill from Pomfrey's desk and scratched a quick note saying that he should know better than to let someone besides her smack him around. She smiled at the thought of his reaction when he would read it and was about to write something else when the smile froze on her face.

No more of this.

Her stomach clenched and she felt her eyes sting as tears started to form.

_Damn._

She was crying over Draco _Fucking_ Malfoy.

She crumpled up the note in anger and threw it in the trash. She then scrawled out a quick apology and said that she hoped that he would feel better. She pondered over whether she should write that they needed to talk. Would he even consider what they had worth talking about? If he moved on to shagging someone else, would he talk to her about it before he dropped her? Or would he expect her to get the hint if he rebuffed her advances, albeit in that charming Malfoy way?

_It would be the latter_, she decided. Casual sex didn't constitute a relationship and therefore didn't merit being talked over. From her observance of Pansy's dejected and angry behavior around Draco before she stopped hanging around him, Hermione could surmise that he didn't see fit to inform Pansy when he dropped her.

She wiped her eyes and steeled herself. She was definitely doing the right thing. It was only a matter of time. Best that it be her to end it now, then for him to do it later.

Speaking of rejection, she wondered how Lavender was faring. Watching Lavender being humiliated in front of their entire House had made her feel guilty for indulging in revenge fantasies earlier. How quickly everything had turned around again. Instead of Lavender having everything and her having nothing, it looked like they were both at rock bottom.

Misery and company.

She placed her note down by Draco's bed stand and tenderly stroked his hair and jaw, brushing the pad of her thumb over his skin. She sighed. No more.

Recasting her Disillusionment Charm, she headed back to Gryffindor Tower and into Lavender's dorm, which to her surprise was full of piles of folded and unfolded clothes and several trunks.

"You're leaving?" Hermione asked, shocked.

Lavender looked up at her, eyes red and swollen from crying.

"Yeah, I'm starting an apprenticeship in Belgium next week."

"I- _what?_" That was the last thing she expected Lavender to say. "In what?"

She smiled at Hermione and rubbed her nose. "I want to be a Healer… maybe."

Hermione's eyebrows rose. "I thought you were into Divination."

"Kind of. Pad and Pav were always more keen on Divination than I was. I don't know. I don't really know _what _I like anymore. I might as well give this a shot."

Hermione sat down on Lavender's bed, still surprised.

"It's so sudden. When did you set this up?"

Lavender bustled around her room. "I applied to several apprenticeships before the war because McGonagall wouldn't stop pestering me. Randomly, really. I didn't intend to go. I just assumed that I'd do whatever Pad and Pav were doing," she smiled weakly at Hermione. "Or Ron. As it turns out, I got accepted to a few. But the one in Belgium starts in the middle of the school year. I'm starting to think that our break-up was a blessing in disguise. I need to learn to be more self-reliant."

Hermione nodded her approval. "Build a backbone." She smoothed out a few wrinkles in the duvet. Now that Lavender had lost Ron, most of her friends, and her reputation, Hermione felt that she ought to help her get something back.

"Don't you think that you're being too hasty? Ron just needs time to cool off. He's always been that way. Maybe just finish out the school year? See if you can't patch things up? You could try another apprenticeship that starts at the end of the school year instead."

Even as she was suggesting it, she knew that it wouldn't happen. What Lavender did was pretty despicable. Hermione could forgive her, especially after seeing her reduced to this state, but she knew that Ron wouldn't.

Lavender gave her a condescending look. "How pathetic would I be to want to continue in a relationship with someone that loved somebody else?"

Hermione answered quickly, "That's ridiculous; I thought we'd already covered that."

Lavender smiled and shook her head. "_We_ did."

Hermione stared at Lavender, not wanting to get into an argument, and then started to help her fold her clothes.

"Are you excited?"

Lavender let out a short laugh. "I'm scared shitless. I'm not such a strong person." She glanced up at Hermione. "Not like you. You do whatever you want; you don't care what anyone else is doing." She looked pensive. "You know, the only reason I came back for this final year was because of Ron."

Hermione helped her fold some of the clothes with a swish of her wand. "Do you know anyone there?"

"Nope. I- thanks." Lavender took the folded clothes and placed them in her trunk. "I'll have to polish up my French as well."

"So when are you going?"

Lavender swished her wand and the folded clothes were whisked into another case. "This evening," she said, "to avoid having to deal with everyone. They all hate me now."

She gave a short laugh and sniffed.

"So," she said, her tone changed to teasing, "tell me how things are with Draco?"

Hermione's face fell. Lavender's eyes widened. "But I thought-"

Hermione shrugged. "He's not the kind to want a serious relationship."

Lavenders eyebrows rose. "Is that what you want?"

Hermione nodded. It felt good to confide in someone.

A crooked grin broke out on Lavender's face. Her mouth spasmed as she tried to prevent her involuntary smile from forming completely. She finally formed a serious expression to replace it, with effort.

"Sorry, but I still half-hate you," Lavender confessed.

Hermione laughed. Guffawed, even. Well, they had that in common.

Lavender flashed a set of white teeth. "Schadenfreude."

"Using big words now?" Hermione quipped.

"Yes, but they make my head hurt."

Hermione sniggered.

Lavender looked up at her. "Can you do me a favor and square things away with the professors? I'll do it by owl more officially later. I just don't think that anyone else would be willing to do it for me."

Hermione was surprised, but answered, "Of course. But what about Padma and Parvati?"

Lavender snapped her trunk shut. "They were just up here. They're disappointed, and it was a bit… weird. I deserve that. I don't feel comfortable asking them for favors now."

Hermione laughed. "But you feel comfortable asking me?"

Lavender smiled. "You understand. They don't."

The two stared at each other in silence.

Lavender continued, "Well, I _am _meeting with Pad and Pav tomorrow night at the Three Broomsticks for a less-hurried farewell. At least they didn't want to throw seven years of friendship out the window." Lavender looked a bit unsure of herself. "Um, do you want to come?"

Hermione's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Sure," she answered, and frowned at Lavender. She seemed a little _too_ mentally prepared to be picking up and leaving for Belgium. She couldn't have decided to go just in the last few hours.

"You've been thinking about this for a while haven't you? You couldn't have decided to up and leave today. When did you start seriously considering the apprenticeship?"

Lavender smirked at her, "Ever since I Petrified your arse."

oooooooooooooooooo

ooooooooooooooooo

Cursing herself for her lack of self control, Hermione returned to the infirmary, but thankfully, Draco was already gone, saving herself from having to talk to him. She was torn between seeking him out to see how he was, and purposely not looking for him. Trying to decide what the proper course of action was, she chose avoidance. Harry and Ginny said that Ron was out flying, the one place she wouldn't dare try and find him. She went out to Quidditch pitch to see if there was a chance in hell that Ron would come down and talk to her.

In any event, it was a nice evening and it would be nice to get some fresh air. When she entered the pitch, she saw that Harry and Ginny were still up in the stands, watching the sun set, and went up to join them.

Bit by bit, she filled them in on everything that had happened, save the more raunchy details. She didn't want to know the ins and outs, so to speak, of _their_ sex lives, and assumed they felt similarly.

Harry exhaled, "So, Malfoy, is it?"

Hermione answered, "Mm, hm."

Ginny looked thoughtful. "That's… inspiring."

"What's that?" Harry turned to her.

"Just put aside your pissing contest and think about it." Ginny gave him a look, and continued gesturing in the air.

"Malfoy is a pure-blood poster boy. His father was a Death Eater." She raised her index finger. "_He_ was a Death Eater, and Hermione is one of the more famous Muggle-borns in wizarding England right now. If the two of _them _being together doesn't prove to you that the world is a better place from the war that we all fought," she paused for effect, "then what does?"

Harry grumbled something unintelligibly in the direction of his shoes.

"What's that?" Ginny asked pointedly.

"You're right, you're right," Harry agreed reluctantly. He then turned to Hermione. "But did it have to be Malfoy?"

Hermione sighed. "We're not even really together. No need to wax philosophic on what's just a short affair."

Harry snorted. "One can only hope."

She didn't want to talk about him anymore. She was done with him. Instead, she described Lavender's plans for Belgium.

"Good riddance," Ginny spat venomously, "I can't _believe_ we were friends. You were right about her Hermione, you know? I should have trusted your instincts."

Hermione shook her head in disagreement. "No, actually, I wasn't. I didn't like her for other reasons. I never thought her willing or capable of pulling a stunt like that. You were right about me not giving her a chance."

"She's petty and vindictive," Harry argued, "and you can't trust her."

"No," Hermione said slowly, "you can't trust her. But we can't pretend that we're any better. We've all made mistakes, haven't we?"

Harry gave her a look of disbelief. "Nothing we've done even comes close-"

"Holding Rita Skeeter in a jar?" Hermione interjected. "That's tantamount to kidnapping."

Harry's face darkened. "She deserved it, and you had to so that-"

"Marietta Edgecomb still has scars," Hermione interrupted him.

"Deserved it," Harry answered with clenched teeth. Ginny nodded her agreement.

Hermione gave Harry a look and lowered her voice, "Draco still has scars."

Harry's face went gray.

Ginny looked at him in surprise, "What?"

"I didn't think it would…" His voice trailed off as he realized he had made Hermione's point for her and lost the argument.

"And neither did Lavender," Hermione finished.

Harry nodded and looked down to his feet.

"Aside from the embarrassment she caused you, you could have seriously hurt someone," Ginny pressed, unwilling to let Lavender off the hook. "Ron was right to dump her. After what she did to you, who knows what she would have done to him?"

She looked disgusted with both Harry and Hermione.

Harry peered up at her, "I almost killed Malfoy sixth year."

Ginny's eyes widened. "What?"

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "Somehow, I never told you. It's not like I meant to hide it from you, but it's not exactly a topic you bring up while eating your Mum's bread pudding, you know?"

"Surely you don't mean 'killed,'" Ginny protested.

Harry turned to her. "If Snape wouldn't have been there, Malfoy would have died."

He stood up and took her hand. "Come on, Ginevra, I'll tell you about it on the way back to the castle."

They started down the stairs.

"Are you coming, Hermione?" Harry asked.

She shook her head, "No, I'll wait for Ron to come down."

Ginny paused halfway down the stands and turned around. "Don't bother waiting for Ron. He's going to need a long time to cool off."

"Yeah," Hermione replied sadly.

Harry tugged on her hand and Ginny pulled away, irritated.

"She's still a bitch. You're my friend and I won't forgive her for what she's done to you. I don't _care_ how you and Harry are rationalizing this away, and I don't _care _what kind of sob story she has."

"Ginny-" Harry tried to calm her down but was interrupted.

"Even if she didn't mean for anyone to get hurt, she meant to humiliate you, even if she didn't understand the full extent of what the potion would do. And for that, she can go fuck herself."

Hermione let out an exasperated sigh and then smiled. You can't win them all, but Ginny's loyalty felt good, and Harry was still her friend. She felt more optimistic about her prospects for repairing her relationship with Ron.

As they walked away, she listened to their footsteps echo down the bleachers and watched the twilight turn into night.

Ronald Bilius Weasley.

They'd been in fights before. But they'd also been much closer than they were now. Their relationship was a bit more distant since they had that infamous talk. Was this the same kind of fight? How would she handle him?

She thought about the situation. Ron had always hated Draco. Hated his whole family. And the feeling was mutual. They were rivals in school, in Quidditch, and in society due to their different backgrounds and monetary resources. They were on different sides of the war, and after the Malfoys had defected, Ron had resented them regaining their high status and getting a pardon from all prior illegal activities.

They had different friends, different houses, different worlds, and now Draco was encroaching on Ron's domain. Yes, Draco was essentially walking where Ron had peed. She rolled her eyes.

All this really boiled down to was penises.

She had a nagging thought in the back of her head that according to her theory, Harry should have acted the same. Both Ron and Harry could be incredibly irrational at times, especially in regards to the Malfoy family. But in this case, Harry's reaction was much more subdued. Then again, it wasn't _his_ girlfriend who had made the _Lustfarae _potion. And it wasn't Harry who had walked in on a snogging session. Furthermore, Harry might have mixed feelings about the Malfoys as a whole since he almost killed Draco and Narcissa had saved his life.

Confident that she had a sufficient understanding of the situation, Hermione knew that she could calm Ron down and they'd be friends again. Maybe not tonight, but eventually. Especially if she told him that she was ending her tryst. She sat staring at the stars for a bit more, and tried to see if she could catch a glimpse of him flying. But it was too dark. She waited some more and almost giggled to herself about how despondent she was earlier. She'd get Ron back. And things would be as they always were.

It was unfortunate about Draco, but that was life. You can't always get what you want. She felt her sadness return at the thought of him. As she stood up to leave and turned towards the exit of the bleachers, a rush of air ruffled her hair as a rider on a broom sped past her. She watched Ron's silhouette land a few rows away and approach her.

She stared at him, unsure of what to say.

"Can I sit?" he asked.

"No," she said. "This seat's taken."

"Heh." He chuckled mirthlessly as he sat down next to her, resting his arms on his knees and staring at his hands.

Hermione took a deep breath. "Look Ron, I'm sorry. I really am. Lavender and I had _just_ started becoming friends, and I didn't want to ruin it, and I know that it was wrong to keep it from all of you, especially from you, but I-"

"Why not me, Hermione?"

All the blood rushed to her face.

"What?" she said, hoping she had heard wrong.

His voice sounded like his chest was aching. "What's wrong with me? Why couldn't _we _have worked out?"

Her lips parted, and she wished she was anywhere in the world but here.

Lavender was right again.

"Ron, we've already had this conversation, I _do_ love you, but I love you-"

He cut her off. "Yeah, like a brother. I know."

She turned to him; he was still staring at his hands. "I'm sorry, Ron."

He dismissed her with a wave of his arm. "Don't apologize."

Neither of them said anything for a few minutes, and the silence was awkwardly tense. She wondered if things between them could ever be the same again. If she were honest with herself, she would be able to admit that she and Ron hadn't been the same ever since the first time they'd had this conversation, last summer after the war. At the time, she had blamed their distancing on his relationship with Lavender.

Well, at least it couldn't get any worse.

His voice cut through the quiet. "Why Malfoy?"

She was wrong.

His voice rose. "What does he have that I don't? Besides money and being a right bastard?"

She thought this would be the wrong moment to point out that Draco most certainly wasn't the only bastard in the near vicinity.

"Ron, don't do this to yourself."

He exhaled and ran a hand through his wavy red hair.

The two of them sat on the stands in the starlight. She wanted to comfort him, but didn't feel that it was her place. Comfort shouldn't come from her anymore. Not when he felt this way about her.

"It hurts, Hermione, it really does."

"I know."

"No," he said as he turned to her, "you don't."

"Would it really be any better if I was with someone like Neville?"

He studied her. "Yes. At least then I'd know that I'd lost you to a person that…" He shook his head, disgusted.

She opened her mouth to apologize, but closed it. She just didn't know what to say.

He clenched his hands, "If I could just show you…"

He took her hands in his. She looked down at his masculine fingers prodding her smaller ones. As friends, they should be able to physically touch, but it just didn't feel comfortable anymore, none of it.

She looked up at him and almost jumped back from the intensity in his bright blue eyes.

"Let me kiss you."

Panicked, Hermione looked at his mouth, and then into his eyes again, which were desperate with longing for her. Any girl would be thrilled to be on the other end of that gaze, but she just wanted to crawl out of her skin.

"Ronald, I-"

And he was there. He was everywhere; his hands cupping her face, fingers threading into her hair, and his mouth pressing against hers. He was hungry. He was needy. His mouth was warm and soft, and his fingers clutched at her. It was his last chance to show her everything that he felt for her and he was trying to win her over with this kiss. She didn't want to encourage him, but at the same time, she didn't want him to think that he hadn't given it his all and that this attempt should be repeated.

She responded weakly, and opened her mouth, causing a tidal wave of his _need_ to wash over her. The strength of his passion brought tears to her eyes because she knew it was utterly wasted on her. He pressed against her, kissing her with everything he had. He was a good kisser, a great kisser. But that didn't take away from how very _wrong_ all of this felt.

Slowly, he pulled away from her, his breath hot against her mouth, and pressed his forehead to hers. He gripped her upper arms as he raised his head to stare at her, to judge her reaction. He panted with the exertion of his kiss, and the excitement that he felt.

If only she could accept what he was offering her. She closed her eyes so that her tears wouldn't fall and embarrass him, and shook her head slowly.

He abruptly let her arms go and turned away.

"Bugger!" he shouted into the night, his voice echoing over the pitch.

He held his head in his hands. Hermione watched him, not knowing what else she could do, and just waited for his breathing to calm down. She wanted to hug him, but was afraid he'd take the gesture the wrong way.

She hoped that it wouldn't stay this awkward between them forever. Would they still be friends tomorrow? Next week? Next month?

His voice came, strained, from between his hands. "Why not me?"

His hurt made her heart ache for him. "It won't work, Ron."

"What if you would change your mind-"

"I won't," she said, trying to make her shaking voice sound firm. "We gave it shot, remember? You have to move on."

Ron stood up and looked down at her, his blue eyes glistening in the moonlight.

"I… I don't think I can do this. I can't keep being around you and feeling this way."

Her stomach dropped.

God. This was it. The end of their friendship.

Hermione looked back at him, wishing that she could say or do something to bring things back to how they were before, but she had to respect his way of coping and protecting himself. Even so, she couldn't bear the thought of them not being friends anymore. She made to reach out to him, and then stopped herself.

"Can't we just.."

Ron shook his head.

"Hurts too much." He turned to go and then paused as if he was going to say something.

His voice became husky. "I'll always love you."

Warm tears formed and spilled down her cheek.

"Me too," she whispered.

Ron continued to stare at her for a few minutes more, as if reassuring himself that he had done everything that he possibly could. His blue eyes glittered in the starlight, and their intensity chilled her to the bone. She shivered. He gave her a half smile, mounted his broom and kicked off.

Hermione watched him disappear into the darkness, and an empty feeling spread in the pit of her stomach.

She sighed and stared up into the night.

"Good-bye, Ron," she whispered.

The best thing she could do with Ron was to let him go. Maybe he would come around, eventually. Things would be strained for a while, she guessed. They had mutual friends, so they would still see each other. Or maybe they wouldn't, if he decided to go out of his way to avoid her.

She started to climb down the stands, feeling slightly sick to her stomach. She'd lost Ron, and she'd never really had Draco.

Stupid, fucking _men_.

At least she still had Harry and Ginny.

Maybe if she had handled this whole thing differently, they would be okay. If only she had been more careful about her dalliances with Draco, Ron wouldn't have had to find out in such a harsh way. Maybe he would have come to love Lavender as much as he did her, perhaps even more so.

She shook her head. Would've, could've, should've… this was the situation now.

Hermione ducked under the guard rail of the last stand and climbed down the ladder.

She smiled grimly at her self-imposed ignorance. She had been naïve to think that they could stay friends after all that had happened between them. Feelings that strong don't disappear so quickly – or so simply. Look at how upset she was over Draco, and what she felt for him wasn't nearly as strong and complex as what Ron felt for her. Ron had really fallen hard. He had pined for her, even while he was with Lavender, who was only serving as a distraction.

And Lavender _knew the whole time_. She shook her head in disbelief. No wonder Lavender hated her.

Hermione jumped down from the last rung. Her feet hit the grass with a soft thud, next to a much larger pair of feet. She startled, and gave a yelp of surprise.

"Hermione."

Blond hair and gray eyes glinted in the moonlight. Draco was leaning against the bleachers' support pillar, hands in his trouser pockets.

Men were like food. Anything that looked _that _good had to be bad for you.

How long had he been here? Could he hear from down here? He looked agitated, and his eyes were pained. Sadly, she realized it didn't matter anyway.

"Oh, hi… " Seeing him made her want to cry again.

"You were upset earlier and I thought…" He looked as if he were choosing between several different things to say. Hermione tried to inconspicuously wipe away her tears.

He raised his eyebrows slightly and his voice turned soft. "You're crying over the Weasel?"

"Also," she answered, looking at the ground next to his shoes.

"Even though you don't…" His eyebrows came together and he exhaled sharply. He cupped her chin in his hand and turned her face up to look at him. "Fuck. I don't care if it was a pity kiss. Don't go snogging other people, okay? Especially _him_."

So he _had_ seen. And heard.

Her unrequited feelings for Draco caused a flare of belligerence.

She smacked his hand away from her face. "Why do you care?" she asked flippantly.

His gray eyes studied her hazel ones. "I thought we were…" His voice took on a tone of disappointment, and then his mouth formed a thin line of reluctant acceptance. "I assumed wrongly."

Hermione's eyes widened and her heart beat sped up. The empty feeling in her stomach was replaced with nervous excitement. She completely misread him!

Looking resigned, he turned to go, but Hermione reached out and grabbed his hand. Draco's head whipped around and he looked at her expectantly.

"We should go out on a date," Hermione announced with a half smile.

Draco stared at her. A slow smile gradually graced his features, and he squeezed her hand.

"We should," he agreed. "We need a little more variety than the library."

"And broom closets."

Rolling his 'L', he said, "Locker room."

Hermione flushed at the memory and Draco gave her a domineering smirk.

"Alcoves," she countered.

"Oohhh." His lips pursed and his fingers probed the skin of her stomach between the bottom of her blouse and top of her skirt. He looked down at her chest and then met her eyes again.

With a lowered voice, he said, "Empty transfiguration classroom."

She gulped and he grinned wolfishly down at her. He had been downright scary that time. Hermione's skin was tingling as his fingers explored higher, teasing her.

She looked at him devilishly. "Astronomy tower."

Draco chuckled and dug his fingers into her skin. "_That_ was a true display of deviance, Granger, even by your standards."

"Maybe my standards have changed," she purred.

Draco fingered a curl of her hair and looked down at her with hooded eyes.

"Do your friends know how evil you are?"

He reached down and laced his fingers through hers. It was so much better knowing that he did, indeed, harbor feelings for her.

_All that needless frustration! _

She punched his arm. "Why didn't you _say _anything? I thought you just wanted me as a fuck buddy."

"Ow!" He rubbed his bicep and looked down at her. "I did!"

She punched him again. "Ow!"

He glared at her. "I could feel what was growing between us," he raised an eyebrow suggestively, "I thought we were pretty much heading in that direction."

He gave her a half smile. "And I didn't want to push my luck. One of these days, you're going to realize that it's me you're dealing with. Sometimes I still can't believe that you even talk to me."

She couldn't keep her grin from spreading from ear to ear.

_Slytherin._

"Eh, you're tolerable," she quipped.

"Good to know you're able to suffer my presence," Draco answered dryly. "Why didn't _you _say anything if it bothered you so much?"

She furrowed her brow. "Well, it all seems really stupid now, doesn't it?"

"Or maybe it's just you that's stu–" He caught her hand and twisted it behind her back before she could land a third punch on his arm.

"Not this time, Granger." He glowered threateningly over her. "Are you looking for trouble?"

Hermione answered coyly, "I wouldn't be with you if I wasn't."

Her playful expression turned serious. "I saw how you treated Pansy. She was really hurt. Even I could see that. I wasn't about to put myself in that position with you."

He looked taken aback, "But Pansy was just some fun."

She stared at him pointedly, "Did _she _know that?"

He narrowed his eyes at her, "She should have, I never asked anything of her, and she didn't want anything more from me."

"And yet she hoped," Hermione pressed him.

He stood back and crossed his arms. "Possibly."

"Possibly?"

"Hermione, she's not you."

Hermione looked at him skeptically.

He cracked a smile. "Jealous?"

Hermione scoffed. "So you can see how I would arrive at the conclusion that I did. You even admitted yourself that I was nothing more than sex in the beginning."

He leaned towards her and trailed his thumbs over her upper arms. She shivered despite the heat that was growing within her. She stared at his lips and looked up to see his eyes gleaming down at her.

His voice became husky. "As was I to you. You still could have asked. I wouldn't have lied to you."

She swallowed, and almost lost her train of thought.

He tipped her chin up with his fingers, and brushed her lips with his thumb. She felt her heart pounding in her chest and looked up into his eyes pensively.

"I... I guess I was scared," she whispered.

Draco jerked his head back, looked at her incredulously, and burst out laughing.

Hermione couldn't help but smile, his laughter was infectious.

"What?"

"Scared?" Draco repeated in disbelief, "You're... you're Hermione _fucking_ Granger!"

She blushed under his admiration. "You didn't seem so interested in a relationship, and I didn't want to chase someone that didn't want me," she said, trying to vindicate her herself.

_Like Lavender_, she thought. _Like Pansy._

_Like Ron._

He lightly dragged his thumbs along the skin of her upper arms, she shivered.

Cocking his head slightly, he smiled lazily down at her, "Oh, I want you."

The pads of his thumbs on her skin were making her tingle all over. She loved the feel of his desire.

"So," he gave her an evil grin, "you're scared of me?"

She dismissed his claim. "Not in this lifetime. I know where you're ticklish."

He looked like he was hiding a smile. "A simple counter spell takes care of that."

"Oh? Did you get that to work?" She tried to sound nonchalant.

_Damn!_

He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in close.

"Don't worry, I'll take it easy on you."

She snorted. He would do no such thing.

He continued, "I'll even let you decide where we go for our first date, since my impending victory has me feeling generous."

"You're on borrowed time, you know." She would find a way to counter his… counter-spell.

"Maybe so, but I'll enjoy it."

Hermione smiled as the butterflies in her stomach abounded, and she turned to face him.

"Lavender is leaving Hogwarts. We're meeting at the Three Broomsticks to say good-bye tomorrow. You should come, and we'll stay afterwards, just the two of us."

Draco grinned. "Lavender, yeah. I still owe her a box of chocolates."

**Chapter End Notes:**

And that's that! I hope everyone likes the ending, I tried to wrap everything up and answer some of the problems that people had with the original story.  
A big thanks to my betas for their help.

Thank you all for reading, thank you all for reviewing, and keep an eye out for the continuation of my vampire!Draco fic.


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